Options to embed a generated barcode into Order Printer template?

Shopify Apps
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Topic summary

Goal: Add a 1D (linear) barcode to Shopify’s Order Printer template so staff can scan orders at POS to mark pickup/fulfillment. Prior solution (barcode.tec-it.com) had commercial-use restrictions/costs the merchant found unacceptable.

Key points raised: Generating barcodes is image generation, not just code substitution. Suggestions included using an app to create barcode images with predictable filenames in Shopify Files, generating custom PDFs with free barcode fonts, or using an external 1D barcode image API. Caution was noted about the cost/maintenance of rolling a custom stack. Alternative workarounds (printer fonts, Excel-generated images) were mentioned as unlikely or cumbersome.

Resolution: The merchant implemented an external API using bwip-js (Code 128) in the Order Printer template:
. It works, and they plan to tweak size/orientation.

Notes: POS = point of sale. Order Printer = Shopify’s template-based print app. 1D barcode = linear barcode (not QR). The image/HTML snippet is central to the solution.

Status: Resolved with a working external API solution; no native Shopify feature identified. Action: Poster was advised to mark the solution and share details.

Summarized with AI on December 17. AI used: gpt-5.
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Hey folks! We would like to have a barcode generated in our Order Printer template so that staff can easily scan the barcode at the point of sale in order to access the order and mark it as picked up / fulfilled. The barcode currently is generated using a 3rd party website, and is just the 1D version of the order number. We learned the website doesn’t allow commercial use of this and wants to charge an amount that we find isn’t worth it. So, we were wondering if anyone knows of any options for this fairly simple thing. I’m a little surprised honestly that Shopify doesn’t provide this feature natively, but maybe they will in a future update.

Here is the current line of code we need to replace in our template:

Note that it points to the barcode.tec-it.com website, feeds in the order number to it, and gets the 1D barcode in return. Also note that we need 1D version, not 2D (our scanners are old and can’t read QR codes).

Hoping that someone has a solution out there.

Cheers!

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Hi @PunkOuter :waving_hand: you’d be looking for an app that can at minimum generate barcode-images with predictable filenames in the files admin when an order is created/updated.

i.e. {{ ‘order’ | append: order.order_number | file_img_url }} .

or supplant everything with custom pdfs generated from HTML that can use free barcode-fonts*.

As this isn’t just “code” you need to replace this is IMAGE GENERATION.

charge an amount that we find isn’t worth it.

Unless you have some sort of internal development team or the budget to hire out having to roll your own dynamic barcode generation stack and maintain it then this can turn into a charge you’ll find isn’t worth it even more-less.

https://github.com/topics/barcode-images

It’s either trying find a suitable replacement api, building custom, or just use the thing that already provides value in facilitating business processes so you don’t have to burn the time re-inventing it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=1D+barcode+image+generation+api

Very roundabout workarounds,

Maybe if the hardware printer is advanced enough barcode fonts might work as part of the template??? :thinking: . Or doing something like using excel, etc to generate the barcode images then upload them to the shopify files admin and reference them by a filename convention that uses the order number.

*doubtful but maybe in apps like mechanic use file generators to make pdfs but it needs to be able to extract an image from inside the pdfs.

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Thanks for the quick reply, but most of that went right over my head, haha. I was hoping there was already a solution provided by Shopify (or an app) as generating a barcode from a few numbers looks to be something a million websites allow people to do for free via their public websites. I guess what you are saying is it’s not easy to do? To take in a string of numbers, convert that to a barcode, and return it as an image like in my example? If so, that’s a bummer!

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Actually, the search link you helped showed a Reddit thread where someone else had a solution (not specifically for Shopify users, but I was able to modify it some to get it working for our Order Printer app made by Shopify. So all is well. Thank you very much!

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@PunkOuter Great to hear barcodes are a miasma to work out.

You can respond to your own post with elaboration/links for future merchants and mark that as a solution!

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This is what we ended up replacing it with. For the moment at least. We’ll probably fiddle around with the size and orientation some. But this inside of Order Printer is working now.

1 Like