Mostly, you are talking about how to get a UPC (the US) or EAN (the rest of the world) number for your product. More specifically, you are asking how to obtain a UPC or EAN company identification number. In the US a company can obtain a unique company identification number by becoming a member of GS1-US (formerly the Uniform Code Council). In the rest of the world, contact your GS1 (formerly EAN International) agency. The company identification number is the first part of the UPC or EAN code. You assign for a specific product a product number attached to the company identification number to make the number of digits 11 for UPC or 12 for EAN. Each product number must be unique for a particular product and product size. If you have an 8 oz. size and a 12 oz. size for the same product, for example, you need to assign two unique numbers. A check digit must be created on the company identification number plus product number and attached to them to make the whole number of digits 12 for UPC or 13 for EAN. This is the number your barcode will contain.

If you want to barcode a book, you contact the International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
If you are barcoding a serial publication, you contact the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).
If you are barcoding your mail pieces, in the US, contact the United States Post Service (USPS).
If you want to have barcodes on your items within some particular industry or for some special purposes, you need more some assistance. Our specialists can tell you what to do.