GS1 Logistic Label Generator
Enter an SSCC and get a GS1-compliant pallet label — the three-block layout, 31.75 mm GS1-128 bars and quiet zones the GS1 Logistic Label Guideline specifies — as an exact-size PDF for sheet printers or ZPL for thermal printers.
🔒 Your data never leaves your browser — labels are generated locally.
Customize layout
What makes a logistic label compliant
A GS1 logistic label has up to three building blocks — free text on top, human-readable data content in the middle, barcodes at the bottom — and only the bottom block is mandatory. The SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) is the single mandatory element, and its GS1-128 barcode always sits in the lowest position on the label. This tool lays those blocks out per the official guideline’s worked examples.
The numbers behind the barcode
Bars are 31.75 mm tall (the HRI line below doesn’t count toward it), the narrow bar sits in the 0.495–0.940 mm window — this tool pins it to a whole number of printer dots (4 dots at 203 dpi, 6 at 300 dpi) so the printed width never drifts — and quiet zones of at least 10 narrow-bar-widths flank the symbol. One easily-confused pair: 31.75 mm is the bar height; the “32 mm” you may have seen is the target distance from a carton’s base to the barcode. All values cite the GS1 General Specifications (Table 5-51 and friends), which GS1 publishes as a free PDF.
PDF and ZPL from the same layout
The PDF and the ZPL are generated from the same element string and the same layout engine — the ZPL even draws the same bar-by-bar geometry rather than trusting printer firmware to re-encode the data, so what you proof on screen is what the thermal printer produces. Both were verified against an independent reference renderer and decoded back with an independent scanner library during development.
(02) needs (37), and other pairings
The GS1 association rules are enforced, not just documented: a contained-GTIN AI (02) without a count AI (37) is rejected, compact A6/4×6 labels carry the SSCC only, one barcode carries at most 48 data characters, and every date must be a valid YYMMDD (day “00” legitimately means end-of-month).
Every check this tool runs (15 rules)
LGL-001 Nothing to encode
A logistic label needs at least the SSCC.
Source: GS1 Logistic Label Guideline, Release 1.3 (official PDF, 58 pages)
LGL-002 Unknown Application Identifier
Only AIs in the GS1 AI table are encoded — an unknown AI would produce a barcode receivers cannot parse.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-003 Duplicate AI
Each Application Identifier may occur only once on a logistic label.
Source: GS1 Logistic Label Guideline, Release 1.3 (official PDF, 58 pages)
LGL-004 Wrong length for a fixed-length AI
Fixed-length AIs (SSCC = 18 digits, GTIN = 14) must match exactly.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-005 Value too long or empty
Variable-length AI values must be non-empty and within their maximum.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-006 Invalid YYMMDD date
Date AIs are YYMMDD. DD may be "00" to mean end-of-month for best-before/expiry dates.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-007 Check digit fails
SSCC and GTIN carry a GS1 mod-10 check digit. A wrong one is rejected at every receiving scanner; the expected digit is shown.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-008 Character outside the GS1 character set
Values must use GS1 CSET 82 characters (letters, digits, and a limited set of punctuation).
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-009 GTIN (02) and count (37) travel together
AI (02) — the GTIN of contained items — is only valid together with a count (37), and vice versa (GenSpecs Table 4-5). A GTIN without a count is meaningless on a pallet label.
Fix: Fill both the GTIN and the count, or neither.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-010 Compact label prints the SSCC only
On A6 / 4"×6" labels the SSCC is not concatenated with other data (Guideline [6-14]). Trade item fields are ignored on this size — switch to A5 / 6"×8" to print them.
Source: GS1 Logistic Label Guideline, Release 1.3 (official PDF, 58 pages)
LGL-011 Over 48 data characters
A GS1-128 symbol carries at most 48 data characters, counting AIs and separator FNC1s (not the start, leading FNC1, check or stop characters).
Fix: Drop a field — usually the batch — or split data across two labels.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-012 Symbol wider than the label or the 165.10 mm ceiling
Including its quiet zones a GS1-128 symbol may be at most 165.10 mm, and it has to fit this label width at the fixed X-dimension. The X-dimension is never shrunk below the compliant window to squeeze data in.
Fix: Use a larger label size, or drop a field.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-013 Symbol geometry per GS1 spec
Bars are ≥31.75 mm tall (HRI not included), X-dimension sits in the 0.495–0.940 mm window on your printer's dot grid, quiet zones are ≥10X, and the HRI is printed below the symbol with parentheses around each AI.
Source: GS1 General Specifications Standard, Release 26.0 (official PDF, 579 pages)
LGL-014 Print at 100% — and where to stick it
Print at "Actual size" (scaling breaks the X-dimension). On a pallet, barcodes go 400–800 mm from the base and ≥50 mm from any vertical edge.
Source: GS1 Logistic Label Guideline, Release 1.3 (official PDF, 58 pages)
LGL-T01 Text truncated to fit
Long address or value lines are cut with an ellipsis so they never collide with the barcodes.
Source: This is a rule of this tool's print engine, not a GS1 requirement — stated so you can see exactly what the tool does.
Every number cites the GS1 General Specifications (Release 26.0) or the GS1 Logistic Label Guideline — both published by GS1 as freely downloadable PDFs, verified 2026-08-25.