Create a Barcode in Photoshop

A Barcode is a coding system on a surface which can be read by machine. Usually it is black parallel lines of different thickness in white surface. Adobe Photoshop is the best way to create a "fake" barcode. Here's a simple tutorial for designing Barcode in Photoshop:

Fire up Photoshop >> File >> New (Ctrl+N)
Give Width = 150, Height = 80 (pixels), Resolution = 72 pixels/inch
Color mode: RGB 8 bit, Background: White

Click on the "maximize" button in the middle of the three top right buttons. You can work with ease with a maximized window. Now as the first step, Create a duplicate layer (Layer >> Duplicate Layer. Name the new layer as Barcode.

Now go to Filter >> Noise >> Add Noise, with these settings:

Amount: 400 (full), Distribution: Gaussian, Monochromatic. The result should be like this:

Now go to Filter >> Blur >> Motion Blur, with 90 degree and Distance 999 pixel (full)

You can already see the Barcode we need. Now we need to adjust the brightness/contrast of the above generated barcode. Go to Image >> Adjustments >> Curves (Ctrl+M) and give the adjustment values as Input: 140 & Output: 110. To do this, click on a point on the curve and when the Input/Output text box is active, you can give the respective values. The result is a darker image of the Barcode.

Now let's give a white border to the Barcode image. It can be done in several ways one of which is resizing the canvas. Go to Image >> Canvas Size (Alt+Ctrl+C) and with the "Relative" checkbox turned on, give 0.5 inches to both width and height and press Ok. Save the result, File >> Save As >> filename.psd (save this in .psd format), it'll be in use later in the Advanced Barcode Tutorial.

It should look like above. Now let's add some text on this thing. It can be a number or text. Select Type Tool (T) and select the font > Arial. Regular. Size = 12. Strong. Color: Black. and drag an area wherever in the image and type in something like this number

"0 2514569841516551151651" note the space after the first 0. You can view Barcodes samples around the internet to make the one you like the most. When you're done typing the number, select the Move Tool (M) and move the number to your desired are (use arrow keys to move, it'll be precise). Make your output look like the one below:

You can resize the result to a smaller size to use for your own image. Go to Image >> Image Size (Alt+Ctrl+I) Scale Styles Checked, Constrain Proportions Checked, Resample Image: Bicubic. Give the new width and height value as Width = 50, the value of height itself changes since Constrain Proportions is turned ON. It'll be very small with this size. To save this as a jpeg image, merge all the layers, do Layers >> Merge Down, twice and you'll have a single layer remaining and then File >> Save As >> filename.jpg. Here's how you can use this Barcode in an image. Save the pic below and open it in photoshop, remember this pic we used in Crop Tool?

If the image is in maximized mode, click the Restore Down button at the top right of the photoshop window. Not the one of Adobe Photoshop but of the image.

Now I assume two images are open in your Photoshop window, one the Barcode we created and other the image of the man and the baby. Select the Move Tool and use it to drag the Barcode from it's window to the image above. See below:

After you Move (drag) the Barcode to the image on the right, release the mouse and then again move the Barcode to the desired place, somewhat like on the image below

Looks professional isn't it? You can use Barcode in various styles. There are several other looks of Barcodes. This is the basic tutorial to create it. Click on the tutorial below to learn more specific versions of Barcode.

Create a Barcode in Photoshop II