GS1 Digital Link QR Code Generator

How to create a GS1 Digital Link QR code

1. Enter the GTIN for your product. GTINs are 8, 12, 13, or 14 digits. This generator normalises the input to GTIN-14 format by zero-padding to 14 digits.
2. Verify the GTIN check digit. The last digit of every GTIN is a mod-10 (Luhn-algorithm) check digit calculated from the preceding digits. The generator validates this automatically. A GTIN with an incorrect check digit will be rejected.
3. Enter the resolver domain. The default GS1 resolver is id.gs1.org. If your organisation operates a private resolver, enter that domain instead.
4. Add optional qualifiers in GS1 Application Identifier order: batch/lot (AI 10), serial number (AI 21), consumer product variant (AI 22), and expiry date (AI 17) if applicable.
5. Export PNG, SVG, WEBP or JPG at up to 4096 px.

Note: a real retail GTIN must be licensed from GS1. You cannot invent a GTIN for a product that will be sold through retail channels. Contact gs1.org to obtain a GS1 Company Prefix for your organisation.

The QR code is generated in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to a server.

What a GS1 Digital Link QR code is

A GS1 Digital Link QR code is a standard QR code — following ISO/IEC 18004:2015 — whose payload is an HTTPS URL structured according to the GS1 Digital Link URI syntax standard, published at ref.gs1.org. Unlike a plain URL QR or a product-specific shortlink, a GS1 Digital Link URI follows a normative structure that allows any GS1-compliant resolver to decode the product identity from the URL path itself, without prior knowledge of the specific retailer or brand.

The GTIN — Global Trade Item Number — is the primary product identifier in the GS1 system. The same identifier underlies the EAN-13 barcode on a grocery product and the UPC-A barcode on a North American retail item. A GS1 Digital Link URI encodes the GTIN in the URL path, along with optional qualifiers such as a batch number, serial number, or expiry date. Resolving the URL connects the physical product to its digital record.

GS1 — the international standards organisation that administers the GTIN system — requires companies to license a GS1 Company Prefix before using GTINs commercially on retail products. A GTIN cannot be invented: it must be allocated from a licensed prefix. This generator encodes any 14-digit number that passes the mod-10 check-digit validation, but a number without a licensed GS1 prefix is not a valid commercial GTIN and cannot be used on retail packaging.

GS1 Digital Link URI syntax

Primary key path structure

The GS1 Digital Link URI syntax, sourced from the normative standard at ref.gs1.org, follows this structure:

https://<domain>/<AI>/<value>[/<qualifier-AI>/<value>][?<attribute>=<value>]

The primary key for a product is GTIN, encoded with GS1 Application Identifier 01:

https://id.gs1.org/01/09506000134352

The GTIN-14 is the normalised form: all shorter GTINs (GTIN-8, GTIN-12, GTIN-13) are padded with leading zeros to 14 digits. A GTIN-13 (EAN-13) of 5012345678900 becomes 05012345678900 in the Digital Link URI.

GS1 Application Identifier qualifier order

GS1 Digital Link supports key qualifiers appended to the primary key in a defined order. The order is normative — placing qualifiers out of sequence produces a non-conformant URI.

A URI with batch and serial qualifiers:

https://id.gs1.org/01/09506000134352/10/ABC1/21/SN00001

Qualifiers must appear after the primary key in the order defined in the GS1 Digital Link standard. Attributes that do not have AI path equivalents are expressed as query string parameters.

GTIN-14 normalisation and the mod-10 check digit

Every GTIN ends with a check digit calculated using the mod-10 (Luhn) algorithm:

1. Starting from the second-to-last digit and moving left, multiply alternating digits by 3 and 1 (beginning with 3 for the rightmost multiplied digit).
2. Sum all the products.
3. The check digit is the number that, when added to the sum, produces a multiple of 10. If the sum already ends in 0, the check digit is 0.

Example: for the GTIN-13 prefix 501234567890, the sum of the weighted digits is 72. The check digit is 8 (72 + 8 = 80). The complete GTIN-13 is 5012345678908.

This is the same algorithm used for EAN-13 and UPC-A barcodes. A GTIN with an incorrect check digit is invalid and will be rejected by GS1 resolvers and retail scanning systems.

The resolver domain

The default GS1 resolver at id.gs1.org is operated by GS1 Global and resolves GTINs to links registered in the GS1 registry. Organisations can also operate private resolvers under their own domain. A private resolver URI might look like:

https://resolver.example-brand.com/01/09506000134352

The resolver domain does not change the GTIN or the qualifier path. Any GS1-compliant decoder can extract the GTIN from the URL regardless of which domain hosts the resolver.

When to use a GS1 Digital Link QR code

Product packaging for retail supply chains. A GS1 Digital Link QR code can coexist with a traditional EAN-13 barcode on packaging today, and is designed to replace the linear barcode at point-of-sale as scanners are upgraded.

Traceability and recall management. Encoding a batch/lot qualifier (AI 10) and a serial number (AI 21) enables item-level traceability. In a recall event, the QR code allows rapid identification of affected batches without manual record lookup.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare labelling. Medical devices and pharmaceutical products increasingly require serialised identification. A GS1 Digital Link URI encodes serial numbers alongside the GTIN in a single scannable code.

Consumer engagement. Scanning a product QR code can resolve to recipe suggestions, sustainability information, or loyalty programme links — uses not possible with a linear barcode. The resolver redirects to different destinations depending on who is scanning (consumer app vs. retail POS system).

Expiry date encoding. A GS1 Digital Link code with the AI 17 expiry date qualifier allows retail scanners to validate freshness at checkout and supports automated markdown and waste-reduction workflows.

Design and print requirements

Maintain a four-module quiet zone on all sides, as specified in ISO/IEC 18004:2015 section 6.3.3.

For retail packaging, GS1 General Specifications define minimum symbol sizes and X-dimension (module size) requirements for GS1 barcodes. Consult the GS1 General Specifications directly for the required X-dimension at the intended scan distance. The general guidance of 2 cm minimum for close-range scanning applies to QR codes used in non-retail contexts; retail specifications are more prescriptive.

Use error correction level M as a default. Error correction level M recovers approximately 15 percent of damaged codewords. For packaging subject to physical handling or variable print quality, level Q (approximately 25 percent recovery) provides additional resilience.

Maintain strong dark-on-light contrast. GS1 General Specifications define minimum print quality grades for scannable barcodes. A GS1 Digital Link QR code printed on retail packaging must pass the same print quality assessment as any GS1 symbol.

Troubleshooting: why your GS1 Digital Link QR code is not resolving

The GTIN has an incorrect check digit. A wrong check digit produces a URI that encodes an invalid GTIN. GS1 resolvers reject invalid GTINs. Recalculate the check digit using the mod-10 algorithm or use the generator's built-in validation.

The GTIN is not registered with a GS1 resolver. Generating a valid GS1 Digital Link URI does not register the GTIN with any resolver. If the GTIN has not been registered with id.gs1.org or a private resolver, scanning the code returns a 404 or an empty response. Register the product at gs1.org.

The qualifier order is wrong. GS1 Digital Link qualifiers must appear in the normative order defined in the GS1 standard. An out-of-order qualifier produces a URI that some GS1 decoders will reject.

The domain is incorrect. A private resolver URI that contains a typo or an expired domain will produce a code that scans but cannot resolve.

The scanning app does not support GS1 Digital Link. Consumer camera apps typically open the URL in a browser, which works. Retail POS scanners must be configured to decode GS1 Digital Link and extract the GTIN and qualifiers. Confirm the target scanning system supports GS1 Digital Link decoding before deploying.

GS1 Digital Link and Sunrise 2027

GS1 Sunrise 2027 is a GS1-led initiative targeting the retail point-of-sale readiness for 2D codes — including QR codes carrying GS1 Digital Link URIs — by the year 2027. The initiative calls on retailers and scanner manufacturers to ensure that point-of-sale systems can decode both the traditional EAN-13/UPC-A linear barcodes and 2D codes carrying GS1 Digital Link data by that date.

The strategic driver is clear: a GS1 Digital Link QR code can carry the GTIN (which existing retail scanners need for price lookup) plus batch, serial, and expiry data (which existing linear barcodes cannot carry) in a single symbol. If a retailer's scanner can decode GS1 Digital Link, that single QR code replaces the stack of separate linear barcodes that pharmaceutical, food, and consumer goods manufacturers currently print on packaging.

For brands, the Sunrise 2027 transition means that a GS1 Digital Link QR code added to packaging today is forward-compatible with retail POS scanning by 2027 while also serving consumer engagement use cases now — through a smartphone camera and browser — without waiting for scanner upgrades.

GS1 has not mandated a specific compliance date beyond the readiness target. "Sunrise" refers to the date after which 2D readiness is expected, not a hard switch-off of 1D barcodes. The transition timeline for any specific market or retailer should be verified against current GS1 guidance at gs1.org.

GS1 Digital Link versus a plain URL QR code