GS1
GS1 is the global, neutral standards organization that governs the identification numbers carried by supply-chain barcodes — the system behind GTIN, EAN/UPC, GS1-128, and the DataBar family.
What You Need to Know
GS1 is not a barcode inventor but the keeper of the numbering language barcodes carry. It manages the GS1 Company Prefix system (global uniqueness without a central registry of every product), defines Application Identifiers for structured data, and publishes the GS1 General Specifications that bind identifiers to symbologies — which symbol carries what, at what size, on which packaging level. Member organizations (GS1 US, GS1 Germany, GS1 China, ...) issue prefixes locally.
For practical label work, GS1 is the answer to "which barcode do I need": consumer units get EAN-13/UPC-A carrying a GTIN; cartons get ITF-14 or GS1-128; logistics units get SSCC in GS1-128; regulated pharma gets DataMatrix carrying the same element strings. Your symbology choice is largely determined once you know which GS1 identifier your trading chain expects.
Where GS1 Applies
The 13-digit retail point-of-sale barcode used on consumer products worldwide outside North America.
Generate EAN-13 →Code 128 carrying GS1 Application Identifier element strings — the standard barcode of global logistics.
Generate GS1-128 →The 14-digit Global Trade Item Number for cases and inner packs, carried by GS1-128 or ITF-14 symbols.
Generate GS1-14 (GTIN-14) →The GTIN-14 carton-level barcode: ITF with thick bearer bars, printed directly on corrugated shipping cases.
Generate ITF-14 →The full-height 14-digit GS1 DataBar that scans from any angle at retail POS — successor to EAN/UPC for tiny items.
Generate GS1 DataBar Omnidirectional →