Specifications for Barcodes on packaging and labels supplied to

Shoprite/Freshmark Group

Part 1

Guidelines for Printing & Packaging Suppliers

Part 2

Guidelines for Design of Packaging & Label Design

Part 3

Guidelines for “In house” Thermal printed labels and

For Suppliers printing own labels
 Part 1
Shoprite/Freshmark
Guidelines for Printing & Packaging Suppliers

These specifications must be met by all Suppliers of Packaging and Labels to

the Group

Bars: only solid Black, Dark Blue or Dark Green bars are acceptable.
Background: A solid white background with no show through, double striking may be
Necessary to achieve solid white background.
Other requirements:
• Any other permitted Colour combinations will be covered at design level in the design
specifications and must be pre approved by Freshmark.
• No other markings or printing will be allowed on the Barcode area. (Staples, Date Codes,
etc).
• Left Light Margin not less than 3.63mm (For symbols at a magnification factor of 1.00)
• Right Light Margin not less than 2.31mm. (For symbols at a magnification factor of 1.00)
• Right light margin must contain a place holder (>) positioned to indicate the extent of the
light margin.
• The left light margin should be indicated by the position of the first digit of the barcode
numbers printed beneath the symbol
• Height of barcode must be 22.85mm (For symbols at a magnification factor of 1.00)
excluding “Human readable characters” i.e. the numbers printed below the bars.
• The height can be truncated no less than 18mm; and only by exception.
• The preferred minimum magnification factor is 0.80. On all products, the preferred
magnification is in the range of 0.90 to 1.10.
• Bar code symbols must be positioned in accordance with the edge rule and in the preferred
position for the type of pack. (See EAN-UCC Global User Manual)
• Allowance must be made for the Print Gain or Print Loss inherent in the print process being
used when preparing the film Master.
• Bar Codes must be verified at each step of the printing process.
o When creating new bar codes, i.e. from film master through to the finished product.
o Verification must be done periodically during the printing run to insure the bar code
is within the accepted tolerance of print gain or loss.
o When printing for Freshmark, a Verification report must be made available to Gideon
vd Walt at Freshmark-Head Office with each print run.
• Only devices meeting the specifications of ISO15426-1 are acceptable for verification
purposes
• Only symbols meeting ISO Grade 1.5 (ANSI/CEN Grade C) or better are acceptable for
retail sale.
• Freshmark (Pty) Ltd will verify that all
barcodes match these specifications.(Using
Axicon Verification Software) and reserves the
right to return goods that do not meet these
specifications.
Drawing not to scale, indicates
Standard Barcode at a Magnification
Factor (MF) of 1.00
Minimum accepted at an MF of 0.80
(incl. margins) measures – Width 29.83 and height 20.73
Smaller barcodes require better print quality. (All measurements = mm)

Part 2
Guidelines for Design of Packaging & Label Design

Design Specifications.
The following must be taken into account when designing labels for the
Group:

Bars: Ideal bar colours in order of preference - Black, Dark Blue or Dark Green.
Background: White only, with no show through, double striking may be Necessary to achieve
solid white background.
Only the colour of the bars may be changed to match with packaging colours, limited to the
approval of Freshmark the background will in all cases be white.
Layouts
• Labels should be designed with the barcode at the end of the Label.
• Bar code symbols must be positioned in accordance with the edge rule and in the preferred
position for the type of pack. (See EAN-UCC Global User Manual)

• Bear in mind the nature of the product being packed in bag and position barcode
accordingly, to minimise or prevent the possibility of curves/rounded barcodes when bags
are full.

Barcodes
• Left Light Margin not less than 3.63mm (For symbols at a magnification factor of 1.00)
• Right Light Margin not less than 2.31mm. (For symbols at a magnification factor of 1.00)
• Right light margin must contain place holder (>) positioned to indicate the extent of the light
margin.
• The left light margin should be indicated by the position of the first digit of the barcode
numbers printed beneath the symbol
• Height of barcode must be 22.85mm (For symbols at a magnification factor of 1.00)
excluding “Human readable characters“, the height can be truncated no less than 18mm;
this by exception.
• The preferred minimum magnification factor is 0.80. On all products, the magnification
should be kept in the range of 0.90 to 1.10.
• Only symbols meeting ISO Grade 1.5 (ANSI/CEN Grade C) or better are acceptable for
retail sale.
 Drawing not to scale, indicates
Standard Barcode at a Magnification
Factor (MF) of 1.00

Minimum accepted at an MF of 0.80

(incl. margins) measures – Width 29.83
and height 20.73
Smaller barcodes require better print
quality. (All measurements = mm)

Part 3
Shoprite/Freshmark
Guidelines for “In house” Thermal printed labels as well as
Those Suppliers printing own labels

Thermal Labels
Where an item is marked by means of a label created on demand and printed by means of a
thermal printer, we require an unbroken check bar across the top of the symbol to provide a visual
confirmation that the symbol has been printed without errors caused by a malfunctioning print
head. An example of this is shown below (not to scale):

Example of Barcode with bar (Not to Scale)

Temperature
• Temperature should be set at between 12-13 for best results on most label types..
Labels
• The bars ideally must be parallel to the direction of print in order to create as straight an
edge as possible and to minimise print gain
• Labels should be printed with the barcode at the end of the Label so that a uniform
standard is set with all Labels.
 Size
• For correct Standard size the Bar width multiplier must be set on “3” which has an MF of
1.14 The height of the barcode may not be truncated to less than 18mm.
• In exceptional cases the Bar width multiplier may be set to “2”.
Ribbon
• Ribbons may only be run through the printer once.
• Preferably Ribbons up to the width of 51 mm should be used.

BARCODE SPECS:
On behalf of supplier:

Name & surname: ..........................................................................

Signature: ..........................................................................

Date: ..........................................................................

On behalf of Freshmark:

Name & Sure name: ..........................................................................

Signature: ..........................................................................

Date: ..........................................................................