Logistics GTIN-14
ITF-14 Carton Labels: GTIN-14, Bearer Bars & Quiet Zones
ITF-14 is aimed at outer cases and logistics units that carry a fourteen-digit GTIN, not at the single consumer unit you scan at a supermarket till.
Generate ITF-14Packaging hierarchy
Case / shipper
Often a GTIN-14 printed as ITF-14 on corrugated (or another agreed logistics carrier).
Not "EAN + 1"
Do not invent a case GTIN by pasting an arbitrary digit in front of the bottle EAN.
Case vs consumer -- with numbers
Suppose each retail bottle carries GTIN-13 0401234567890 (illustrative only).
A shipper carton holding twelve bottles is a different trade item: it needs its own GTIN-14
under your GS1 allocation -- not an invented leading "1".
Separate identities
bottle GTIN-13
case GTIN-14
Receiving scans ITF-14 to book twelve eaches; POS scans the bottle EAN-13 to sell one.
Receive against consumer GTIN
same EAN on case
Quantities and replenishment break even when every symbol "scans."
Why interleaved 2 of 5
| Topic | Detail |
|---|---|
| GTIN-14 | Fourteen digits including a Modulo-10 check; leading indicator distinguishes packaging levels |
| Interleaved | Digits pair into bar and space patterns -- suits fixed-length numeric logistics IDs |
| Not a POS twin | Warehouse scanners expect ITF-14 on the shipper; front-end POS expects the consumer symbol |
| Qrivio | Requires a complete, correctly checked fourteen-digit GTIN; does not invent hierarchy from EAN-13 |
Bearer bars on corrugated
Many ITF-14 designs include a heavy rectangular bearer bar frame around the symbol. On corrugated board, printing and handling distort edges; the bearer helps reject partial reads of tall bars and improves print stability.
Crush and washboard Show-through and flexo gain fatten bars on kraft. Direct-print often needs larger magnification than a smooth white label.
Tape and straps Can cut the symbol or break the bearer frame at die-cuts and hand-holes.
Unstable board print Move ITF-14 to a quality-controlled label rather than shrinking the symbol to "fit between the flutes."
Live carton photos When a DC reports intermittent no-reads, photograph the live carton -- not only the PDF proof.
ITF-14 vs Code 128 on cartons
Choose ITF-14
Trading partners expect GTIN-14 in the classic case barcode format -- especially on corrugated with bearer bars.
Do not assume equivalence
Code 128 on a brown box is not automatically "the same" as an ITF-14 GTIN-14 just because both appear in logistics.
Choose Code 128 (or GS1-128) when the carton must carry alphanumeric logistics data, SSCCs, or AI strings that ITF cannot express. Agree the carrier with the customer's routing guide before reprinting a season's shippers.
Quiet zones, check digits, batches
Quiet zones Leave clear margins left and right. Case art, tape, and overlapping labels love to invade those zones.
Check digit Same GS1 Modulo-10 family as EAN-13/UPC-A across all fourteen digits. Regenerating bars does not fix a wrong indicator.
Magnification Usually larger than retail EAN-13 -- cartons are scanned at greater distance on rougher surfaces.
Qrivio batches Advance the payload before the check and recalculate; overflow past the digit length is blocked.