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ITF-14 is the barcode on the outside of shipping cases and cartons. It encodes a 14-digit GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) that identifies the case, not the items inside it.

Decode one

Scan or paste a barcode and see every part of it.

Make one

Generate a valid barcode from fields.

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Where you’ll see it

  • Corrugated shipping cases, usually printed straight onto the cardboard.
  • Warehouses and receiving docks, where cases are scanned in and out.
  • Not at checkout. ITF-14 is for distribution. Products sold one at a time carry a UPC or EAN.

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Anatomy

ITF-14 is Interleaved 2 of 5 with exactly 14 digits and a heavy frame. Digits are encoded in pairs: in each pair, the first digit decides which bars are wide and the second decides which spaces are.

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Bearer bars

The thick bars above and below the barcode are bearer bars. On a rough cardboard surface they even out the pressure of the printing plate, and they stop a scanner from reading a slanted path through only part of the barcode. Some cases have a full rectangle around the barcode instead. Both are allowed.

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The indicator digit

The first digit says what the number identifies: A brand often builds a case number by putting an indicator digit in front of the item’s own GTIN-13 and recalculating the check digit. That’s a convention, not a rule.

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Size and quiet zones

ITF-14 is printed much larger than a retail barcode so it can be read on cardboard and across a warehouse. A module is at least 0.495 mm and at most 1.016 mm, and the bars are 31.75 mm tall. The quiet zones are at least 10 modules on each side, inside the bearer bars.

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Check digit

The last digit is a check digit, calculated from the other 13 with the GS1 mod-10 algorithm: Changing the indicator digit changes the check digit too, which is why a case number usually ends differently from the item number it was built from. See Check digits.
  • Interleaved 2 of 5: the underlying barcode, in any even length.
  • GS1-128: used on cases that need more than a GTIN, such as a batch number or best before date.
  • EAN-13 and UPC-A: the barcodes on the items inside.

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Gotchas

  • The case number isn’t the item number. Look up how many items a case holds, and which item, in your product data. See a different number on the case.
  • Don’t derive one from the other. Dropping the indicator digit and recalculating the check digit often gives the item’s GTIN, but not always.
  • Partial reads. Interleaved 2 of 5 has no built-in check of its own, and a scanner can read part of a damaged barcode as a shorter number. Accept only 14 digits.

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Scanning it in your app

ITF-14 isn’t in the Retail product group. Enable the Logistics and shipping group, and fix the length:
See Validation.

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Specification

  • ISO/IEC 16390: the Interleaved 2 of 5 barcode specification.
  • GS1 General Specifications: indicator digits, bearer bars, and size and placement rules for ITF-14.