Barcode Tattoo Guide by Scott Blake

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Creative Commons

Barcode Tattoo Guide

Nearly all of the real barcode tattoos I have seen in person and online photos appear not to scan. There are some fine examples of tattooed lines and numbers that look like the ubiquitous symbol, but the true test for any barcode is does it make the scanner beep. Most barcode tattoos try to cram too much information under skin, and eventually the ink blends into a black blob. There are several factors to consider when tattooing the computer generated symbol, like the DPI of skin and how many lines are in a barcode, but I believe with precision it can be done.

I digitized a two-month old tattoo directly on a flatbed scanner. Sampling a one-inch square at 300 dpi, I measured the width of a single needle line. The average is around 7 pixels. To calculate the minimum resolution, I divided 300 by 7 which equals 42 dpi. Therefore the original barcode artwork must be made at 42 lines per inch or lower to translate properly into a tattoo.

It is worth mentioning that tattoos do change with age, they all slowly blend out over time, and that will effect the accuracy. Barcodes are a combination of black and white bars, if the black ink expands too much, it can ruin the white areas. Certain parts of the body like the shoulders and back do not expand as much. Selecting a flat surface on the back will also make it easier to scan the barcode.

Moving on to the most common type of barcode symbology, the one found in most supermarkets, which is also being used extensively for tattoo art is the UPC. Every Universal Price Code is a standard 95 units wide. To figure out what the minimum size UPC tattoo should be, divide 95 units, by 42 dpi, and you get 2.26 inches. So a skilled tattoo artist, using one needle in their gun, should make all UPC style barcodes at least 2.26 inches wide. This is about double the normal size we are used to seeing these codes at the store. Most barcode tattoos I have seen are between 1.5 and 2 inches wide, not quite big enough. They must be made larger to have any chance of scanning, but do not make the image too big. Most barcode scanners maximum input area is 2.5 inches, so any line pattern bigger than that will not fit into the red laser eye. I would suggest making all UPC style tattoos between 2.26 and 2.5 inches wide.

Looking closely at the UPC barcode there are 35 black bars, 33 white bars, and all the lines come in three different widths.

There is another barcode language used throughout the world that can encode letters called the Code 128 style. Your custom phrase can include numbers, spaces, and even punctuation! Choosing a tiny phrase will allow for narrower codes. A good option would be a short three-letter barcode. The barcode for my initials "SDB" is only 68 units wide. Make the barcode art at 42 dpi resolution, and the tattoo will only be 1.6 inches wide. Barcodes are scalable so you can enlarge the image up to 2.5 inches wide and it will still scan. Making the barcode bigger will help in reduce errors in scanning.

The absolute largest possible phrase is 6 characters. That should be enough to spell out part of your name or abbreviated birthday. June 26, 1974 can be shortened to "062674". In the binary barcode language that works to be 101 units wide. Divided by 42 dpi, equals 2.4 inches. That would test the skills of any veteran tattoo artist.

Another possibility is to put split meaning in your barcode message. The human readable text at the bottom can be different from the bars above. You can put the abbreviated barcode up top and the expanded version written out below. The official fonts used for all barcode numbers and letters is OCR A and OCR B. If you do not have the preferred font, Helvetica, Arial, and Courier are acceptable. You may actually use any font for the type and it will have no effect on scanning the barcode.

To get started making your own personalized barcode tattoo, there are several places on the web that have free barcode generators. The images will need some adjusting, but this is the perfect place to start creating your unique code.

I will make barcode for you.

JPEG Image
High resolution file
sent to your email
(1300 x 900 pixels)

Enter Top Phrase Here
MEDIUM
Enter Bottom Phrase Here

for $12.50

Easy to use interface http://www.barcodemill.com
More advanced options http://www.POSWorld.com/onbargen.html
Bare bones version http://www.milk.com/barcode/server/

I order my special tattoo paper from Bel Decal and Papillo Paper.

Dowload Barcode Tattoo Kit

I started making temporary barcode tattoos as an art project a few years ago, and have sold over 2,000 units from my website http://www.barcodeart.com The fun with temporary body art is that you can put them in places you would never be able to get a permanent one. Like one covering your forehead, on your cheek, or in the palm of your hand. If you would like a sample barcode tattoo for free, just email me your street address and I will send one to any where in the world. scott@barcodeart.com

Barcodes are the ultimate in un-originality, and that is why they are so fun to personalize. I hope this guide will help people get better barcodes tattooed under their skin. If one will scan is still yet to be seen.

Do you still have more questions? Read the Barcode Tattoo FAQ.

Barcode Scanning Tattoo Video

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