How to add a barcode to your flipbook

Table of contents

Overview
Step-by-step guide
Barcode types and their rules
Fill barcodes automatically from a product feed
What your buyer gets when they scan it
Printing and sizing
Additional tips / FAQs
Common use-cases
Troubleshooting
Next steps

Overview

A printed catalog usually stops at the page. Your buyer sees the product, writes the code on a notepad or types it into an order form, and every one of those keystrokes is a chance to order the wrong thing. In a warehouse it is worse: someone walks the aisles with a clipboard, matching what is on the shelf against what is in the book.

The Barcode element closes that gap. It turns a product code into a real, scannable barcode printed on the page, so the code travels from your catalog into a scanner without anyone retyping it.

You can type a code in yourself for a one-off, or connect the element to a column in your product feed so every generated product page gets its own.

Key benefits

It really scans: the barcode is generated to the standard you pick, not pasted in as a picture
No retyping: the product code moves from page to scanner without a human in between
It works with automation: map it to a feed column once and every product page gets the right code
It survives print: bar ratios and margins are preserved in PDF export
It behaves like any element: move it, resize it, rotate it, copy it, delete it

What you need

To add a barcode and type a code in yourself: all plans, including free.

To fill barcodes automatically from a product feed: Enterprise, since it uses catalog automation.

Where it works: any flipbook you can open in Design Studio, including ones you created by uploading a PDF.

Step-by-step guide

1. Open the Elements panel

Open your flipbook in Design Studio, then click Elements in the left sidebar. You will find Barcode in the Graphics section.

2. Place it on the page

Click the Barcode tile. An empty barcode lands on your page, showing Enter a code to generate. Drag it where you want it and pull a corner to resize.

It keeps its proportions as you resize. That is on purpose: a squashed barcode stops scanning.

3. Enter your code

With the barcode selected, click Edit in the toolbar to open the Barcode panel. Type or paste your code into the Code field, and the barcode appears as you type.

4. Pick your barcode type

Code 128 is selected for you. It accepts letters, numbers and symbols, so it covers most catalogs. If your codes follow a different standard, choose it from the Barcode type dropdown.

Each type has its own rules, and the next section lists all of them.

Barcode types and their rules

Fourteen types are supported. Check your codes against this before you build your feed, so you are not fixing them one page at a time later.

Type

Length

Allowed characters

Good to know

Code 128

Any length

Letters, numbers, symbols (ASCII)

The default. Best pick when your codes mix letters and numbers.

Code 39

Any length

0-9, A-Z, and - . space $ / + %

Older standard, still common in manufacturing. Lowercase is not accepted.

Code 93

Any length

0-9, A-Z, and - . space $ / + %

More compact than Code 39, same character set.

EAN-13

12 or 13 digits

Digits only

Retail standard. Enter 12 digits and the check digit is added for you, or enter all 13 and it is verified.

EAN-8

7 or 8 digits

Digits only

Short version of EAN-13, for small packaging. Same check-digit behaviour.

EAN-5

Exactly 5 digits

Digits only

Add-on code, usually a price. Not a standalone product code.

EAN-2

Exactly 2 digits

Digits only

Add-on code, usually an issue number for magazines.

UPC-A

11 or 12 digits

Digits only

North American retail standard. Enter 11 digits and the check digit is added, or enter all 12.

UPC-E

6 to 8 digits

Digits only

Compressed UPC for very small packaging.

ITF

Even number of digits

Digits only

An odd number of digits will not render. Add a leading zero if needed.

ITF-14

13 or 14 digits

Digits only

Shipping cartons and outer cases. Enter 13 digits and the check digit is added, or enter all 14.

MSI

Any length

Digits only

Mostly used for warehouse and inventory shelf labels.

Pharmacode

A number from 3 to 131070

Digits only

Pharmaceutical packaging control. It is a number, not a code with leading zeros.

Codabar

Any length

Digits and - $ : . + /, wrapped in a start and stop letter A-D

Must begin and end with A, B, C or D, for example A12345B. Libraries, blood banks, logistics.

About the check digit: EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A and ITF-14 end with a check digit that is calculated from the digits before it. Both ways work: leave it off and Flipsnack calculates and adds it, or include it and Flipsnack verifies it. If you include one that does not match, the code is rejected rather than silently corrected.

QR codes are not part of this element. To share a whole flipbook as a QR code, see the link at the end of this article.

Fill barcodes automatically from a product feed

Typing codes by hand is fine for a handful of products. For a catalog built from a product feed, you map the barcode once and every generated page gets its own code.

How it works

The barcode has its own slot in the feed mapping, next to the slots for product title, price and image. You point that slot at whichever column holds your codes, and during generation each product page gets the value from its own row.

Setting it up

Place a barcode element inside your grouped product elements, so it is copied along with the rest of the product layout.
Pick the barcode type on the element, as in step 4 above.
Open Connect and map the barcode's code slot to your codes column.
Generate or sync your catalog as usual.

Three things worth knowing

The barcode does not borrow your SKU mapping. It has a separate slot, so you map it yourself even when it points at the same column your shopping button uses.
The type is set on the element, not in the feed. Every product using that layout gets the same barcode type, so all your codes need to follow the same standard.
Rows with no code render nothing. An empty cell leaves a blank space on that product's page rather than a broken barcode. Same for a code that does not fit the type you chose.

Because the type is fixed per layout, mixed code standards in one feed need one layout per standard. If your feed has EAN-13 for some products and internal codes for others, split them.

What your buyer gets when they scan it

Your buyers are the ones holding the printed catalog: a purchasing manager building an order, a warehouse team counting stock, a rep taking orders at a trade show. Here is what the barcode does for each of them.

Scanning returns the code itself — the SKU, EAN or part number you put in. It goes straight into whatever system the scanner feeds.

A purchasing manager scans items from your catalog into their own ordering system, instead of typing product codes off the page and risking a wrong digit.
A warehouse team scans the catalog page against what is on the shelf, so stock checks stop being a clipboard exercise.
A sales rep scans products at a trade show or in a client meeting and builds the order as they go.

One expectation to set: a barcode holds a code, not a link. Scanning it will not open a web page, a product listing or a checkout. If you want an online reader to tap a product and land on your store, that is a shopping button. Many catalogs use both — the button for readers on screen, the barcode for whoever is holding the paper.

Printing and sizing

Barcodes are included in PDF and print export. They are drawn as vectors, so they stay sharp at any size with no loss of quality.

For a professional print run, use Download PDF - Print rather than the standard web PDF. It exports at up to 300 DPI in CMYK, and lets you add bleeds and crop marks. See Understanding Flipsnack's "Download PDF for print" option for the full settings. Print-ready export is available on all paid plans from Starter up.

The thing that breaks a printed barcode is size. Below a certain width the bars merge and no scanner will read it, and the barcode also needs clear empty space on either side — the quiet zone — or the scanner cannot tell where the code starts.

Print a test first. Before committing to a print run, export the PDF, print one page at the final size, and scan it with the device your readers will actually use. A barcode that scans on screen can still fail on paper.

Minimum sizes and quiet zones

These are the published figures for each standard. Flipsnack draws the barcode to the proportions of the type you picked, so what matters is how large you make the element on the page.

Type

Nominal size at 100%

Practical minimum

Quiet zone

Notes

EAN-13

37.29 x 25.93 mm (1.469 x 1.021 in)

29.83 x 20.74 mm (80%)

3.63 mm left, 2.31 mm right

Retail scanning at the till. Do not go below 80% if the code will be scanned in a store.

EAN-8

26.73 x 21.31 mm (1.052 x 0.839 in)

21.38 x 17.05 mm (80%)

2.31 mm on both sides

Small packaging. Same 80% floor as EAN-13.

UPC-A

37.29 x 25.91 mm (1.469 x 1.020 in)

29.83 x 20.73 mm (80%)

2.97 mm on both sides

North American retail. Same rules as EAN-13.

UPC-E

22.11 x 25.91 mm (0.870 x 1.020 in)

17.69 x 20.73 mm (80%)

2.97 mm left, 2.31 mm right

Compressed UPC for very small packs.

ITF-14

142.75 x 32.00 mm (5.62 x 1.26 in)

huge reduction not advised below 50%

10 x the narrow bar width, both sides

Shipping cartons. Needs a wide quiet zone, so leave real space around it.

Code 128