Interleaved 2 of 5 (ITF) Barcode Generator

What ITF is used for

ITF (ISO/IEC 16390) is common in distribution, warehousing and on corrugated cartons because its wide bars print well on rough surfaces. ITF-14, the GS1 carton barcode, is a specific fixed-length application of it. Plain ITF needs no licence, so you can use your own numbers for internal labels, locations and pallets.

Why the digit count must be even

• Digits are encoded in pairs: the first digit of each pair is carried by five bars and the second by the five spaces interleaved with them.
• Each digit has two wide and three narrow elements, which is the 2 of 5 in the name.
• An odd-length number is padded with a leading zero, or an optional mod-10 check digit is appended to make the length even.
• The start pattern is narrow bar, narrow space, narrow bar, narrow space; the stop is wide bar, narrow space, narrow bar.

Bearer bars and reliable reading

Because ITF has simple start and stop patterns, a scan line that crosses only part of a symbol at an angle can be misread as a shorter valid code. To prevent this, configure scanners for a fixed length, use a check digit, and print bearer bars: a frame or horizontal bars touching the top and bottom of the bars. Keep a wide-to-narrow ratio of 2.25:1 to 3:1, a quiet zone of at least 10X, and dark bars on a light background.

How to make it

1. Select ITF (Interleaved 2 of 5) in the barcode generator.
2. Enter your digits; the app pads or adds a check digit to reach an even length.
3. Choose bearer bars and a size that suits your printer.
4. Export SVG, PDF or PNG, or print a batch of labels from CSV.
5. Scan the label and confirm the full number is returned.

Frequently asked questions