Barcodes
How to choose the right barcode format
Retail, internal, shipping, and when letters force your hand.
Retail versus internal
If a product is sold at retail, use the format your market expects. EAN-13 internationally, UPC-A in North America, with a GS1-assigned number. For your own warehouse, Code 128 with codes you define works well.
Shipping and cases
ITF-14 is built for outer cartons and corrugated surfaces. Use it on cases, with the retail format on the units inside.
Letters in the value
If your value contains letters, you need Code 128 or Code 39; the numeric retail formats will not accept them.