How to add your own barcodes to your packing slip template code.
You can add many different kinds of barcodes to your packing slip template in ShipStation. Adding barcodes to your printed packing slips can be helpful when using Scan workflows or if you need a barcode to scan when using platforms outside of ShipStation.
The most common barcode to add to a packing slip is an order # barcode. However, you can encode other types of order data into barcode form on your packing slips by adding the appropriate field replacement in the packing slip code.
The instructions below show how to add an Order # barcode to your packing slip. Check the Parameters and Types of Barcodes sections for additional details on further customizing your packing slip barcodes.
Subscription Plan Requirement
You must be on a Silver plan or higher to create and edit packing slip templates.
To add an order number barcode to a custom packing slip:
-
Find the packing slip you wish to add a barcode to and click Edit.
A window will then display with an HTML editor.
Default Template Uneditable
You can not directly edit the Default Template. Copy the default template to make edits.
-
Click on the Order Footer section, scroll until you reach the bottom, and add the following line of code at the end:
<barcode size="small">[Order #]</barcode>
If you used a copy of the Default Template, you will see a line of code near the bottom:
<barcode size="small">[Barcode]</barcode>
Replace [Barcode] with [Order #] on this line of code to populate a barcode.
Barcode Code128A
If your store's order numbers include a long sequence of zeros, such as 10000000034, you will need to use the barcodetype Code128A. Here's an example of what the code would look like:
<barcode size="medium" barcodetype="Code128A">[Order #]</barcode>
To center the barcode, use the code below:
<p align="center"><barcode size="medium">[Order #]</barcode></p>
Tip
If you're having trouble getting ShipStation to read your order barcode, try the following:
-
Change the value for the barcode size to x-small. Sometimes a part of barcode code gets cut off if the print is too large causing an error when reading it.
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Change the type of barcode to Code128A, Code128B or some other type (see options listed below).
To get your barcode to look right, you can adjust the barcode’s size and type. You make all these adjustments within the <barcode> tag. The table below shows the available attributes for adjusting barcodes.
Here's the packing slip HTML of a barcode that has a different size, type, and height than the default barcode (Code128Auto):
<barcode size="small" barcodetype="Code128C" height="4">[Order #]</barcode>
ShipStation supports the following optional parameters for barcodes:
|
Parameter & Description |
Supported Values |
|
|---|---|---|
|
barcodetype The value of this parameter dictates the type of barcode which will be generated. |
Code128Auto (default) Code128A Code128B Code128C Code39 Code39ASCII Code93 CodeCodabar EAN13 EAN8 EXT2 EXT5 |
I2of5 Industrial2of5 ITF14 ModifiedPlessy POSTNET UCCEAN UPCA UPCE GS1Databar14 GS1DatabarTruncated GS1DatabarLimited GS1DatabarExpanded |
|
size The value of this parameter dictates the size of the barcode font. |
x-small (font size: 12) small (font size: 24) medium (font size: 36) large (font size: 60) x-large (font size: 72) Any numerical value between 10 - 100 |
|
|
height The value of this parameter dictates the height of the barcode. It differs from size in that you can independently adjust the height of a barcode without affecting its width. This parameter is not supported by all barcode types. |
1 (smallest) 2 3 (default) 4 5 6 7 (largest) |
|
|
humanreadable The value of this parameter determines if the barcode should have human readable text embedded and where that text should be displayed. This parameter is not supported by all barcode types. |
none (default) top bottom |
|
Note about HTML
Be sure to always include the value for an attribute between quotation marks, as illustrated in the above example.
The table below lists the types of barcodes you can add to packing slips and related specifications.
|
Barcode Type |
Characters |
Max Length |
Height |
Bottom Human Readable Height |
Top Human Readable Height |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Code128Auto |
alpha-numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
Code128A |
alpha-numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
Code128B |
alpha-numeric |
None |
1-7 |
3 |
None |
|
Code128C |
numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
Code39 |
Alpha-numeric: upper case only |
None |
1-7 |
3 |
None |
|
Code39ASCII |
Alpha-numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
Code93 |
Alpha-numeric: upper case only |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
CodeCodabar |
Numeric w/ cap A-D |
None |
3 |
None |
None |
|
EAN13 |
Numeric |
13 |
1-7 |
1-7 |
1-3 |
|
EAN8 |
Numeric |
8 |
1-7 |
1-7 |
1-3 |
|
EXT2 |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
1-7 |
1-3 |
|
EXT5 |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
1-7 |
1-3 |
|
I2of5 |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
1-3 |
None |
|
Industrial2of5 |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
ITF14 |
Numeric |
14 |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
ModifiedPlessy |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
POSTNET |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
UCCEAN |
Alpha-numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
UPCA |
Numeric |
10 |
1-7 |
1-7 |
1-3 |
|
UPCE |
Numeric |
6 |
1-7 |
1-7 |
1-3 |
|
GS1Databar14 |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
GS1DatabarTruncated |
Numeric |
None |
3 |
None |
None |
|
GS1DatabarLimited |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
|
GS1DatabarExpanded |
Numeric |
None |
1-7 |
None |
None |
You can include any field replacement or static value as a barcode on packing slips. However, order-level information and product-level information must live in specific parts of the template.
-
Order Level information (like Order #, Shipping Service, Custom Field #1, etc.) must remain in either the Order Header or Order Footer sections of the packing slip.
-
Product Level information (like SKU, Item Title, Warehouse Location, etc.) must remain inside the Order Items table.
After you customize the packing slip, print a sample slip to ensure everything looks as it should. Remember to Save Changes before closing out the window.