Create a barcode with text and letters

Barcode with Text Letters Code 39 Code 128

Text and Letters with Standard Barcodes

The most common linear codes to encode letters are Code 39 (letters A-Z, digits 0-9, some special characters) and Code 128 (full ASCII character set). Code 39 (in the screenshot left) is very easy to use and does not require a checksum which makes it ideal for use with a barcode font, for example in Word, Excel or Google Docs. A good choice for up to 20 characters before the code gets too wide.

Code 128 (right) on the other hand requires a check digit and probably some conversion of your data. It can natively encode small cap letters ("abc") and features numeric compaction, very useful if your data contains both letters and numbers.

More info about both barcode symbologies:

Letters and Text with EAN / UPC Barcodes

The common retail barcodes UPC-A and EAN 13 will encode digits only; they can't be used to encode text or letters.

Text and Letters with 2D Matrix Barcodes

QR with Letters Text

All common 2D barcodes will encode the full ASCII set plus diacritic ("umlauts") and accented characters. QR Code (shown above, content: "ABCabc123") will also encode Unicode characters like non.latin scripts, see here.

More info about 2D barcode symbologies:

Create Barcodes with Text, Letters in Illustrator, InDesign

Easy to use barcode extensions support Code 39, Code 128 and many other linear and 2D symbologies:

The Softmatic barcode plug-ins and extensions for InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop are available from the Softmatic store.

More barcode generators on our products page.