Standard 2 of 5 (Industrial 2 of 5)
The original 1960s two-of-five numeric symbology encoding one digit per five bars — the direct ancestor of Interleaved 2 of 5.
Standard 2 of 5 (Industrial 2 of 5) Specification
| Character set | Digits 0-9 only |
| Data length | Variable; even number of digits preferred |
| Check digit | None in the base specification (optional Mod 10 in some systems) |
| Density | Low — one digit per five bars |
| Module width (X-dimension) | 0.19-0.50 mm typical |
| Print ratio | Wide:narrow ratio 1:2 to 1:3 (configurable) |
| Magnification | Not fixed by the standard; scales with X-dimension |
| Quiet zone | 10X on each side |
| Standard | AIM USS-ITF25 ancestor; no current ISO standard |
| Origin | Identicon Corporation (early two-of-five lineage), 1968 |
Not generated by barcodegen.net
Standard 2 of 5 (Industrial 2 of 5) is documented here for completeness, but our free generator does not produce this symbology. The closest supported format is ITF (Interleaved 2 of 5).
What Is Standard 2 of 5 (Industrial 2 of 5)?
Standard 2 of 5, developed in the late 1960s, encodes each digit as five bars of which exactly two are wide; spaces between bars carry no data. Because only bars encode, the symbology is about twice as wide as its interleaved successor and offers no check digit in the base specification. It found early use in warehouse sorting, photo-finishing, and airline baggage systems.
Its historical importance outweighs its modern utility: Interleaved 2 of 5 (which packs digit pairs into bar-space combinations) and IATA 2 of 5 both descend from it. Some legacy sorting and photofinishing equipment still reads it, but new systems have no reason to choose it over ITF or Code 128C, which are denser and safer.
Common Applications
- Legacy warehouse sorting systems
- Photo-finishing and airline baggage (historical)
Related Barcode Types
A dense digits-only linear barcode that interleaves bar and space character pairs — logistics workhorse for numeric data.
A variant of Standard 2 of 5 standardized for airline baggage handling, where only the bar widths encode digits.
A compact two-of-five variant using a three-bar character with two wide elements, occasionally seen in barcode font applications.