Deliver the correct 2D barcode on every client's packaging
Studios, packaging designers and printers sit at the only moment a barcode can change: a print run. 2D Ready gives you a spec-correct GS1 Digital Link QR for each client's products — print-ready at the right size, editable after it ships, and handed over cleanly when the job ends.
In short
- Packaging work is where the 2D switch actually happens: a barcode can only be added or changed during a print run, and the artwork for that run is in your hands.
- A GS1 Digital Link QR code follows a URI syntax that GS1 defines, so a generic QR generator cannot make one that rings up at a retail till.
- One 2D Ready login holds a separate organisation for each client, and you can transfer ownership of an organisation to the client at handover.
- The destination behind the code stays editable after printing, so the artwork you sign off keeps working long after the engagement ends.
Start free → or the Sunrise 2027 checklist →
Why a 2D barcode for agencies & printers?
By 2027, retailers worldwide intend their point-of-sale scanners to read 2D barcodes — GS1 calls it Sunrise 2027. For every retail-listed brand you work with, that turns the next packaging refresh into the moment the 2D question gets asked. The studio or press that answers it correctly — a code that scans at the till, a straight answer on size and placement — wins work that would otherwise go to whoever happened to be holding the artwork when the deadline landed.
The risk is specific, and it lands on you. A marketing QR tool produces a link, not a barcode: its output carries no GTIN in the syntax GS1 defines, so a retail scanner finds nothing sellable in it. If that code ships on artwork you supplied, the reprint conversation happens with you in the room. A GS1 Digital Link puts the client's GTIN — with a batch, best-before or serial where the client needs one — inside a URL structure a till reads offline, exactly as it reads the linear barcode today.
Whether a printed code scans is decided in artwork and prepress, not in software. The X-dimension, the quiet zone and the contrast are artwork properties, which makes them your deliverables. We export print-ready SVG and PNG with the four-module quiet zone GS1 requires already in place, and our print size guide gives you the X-dimension floor to check at sign-off rather than discover at the press.
The part your client keeps is the part they will thank you for. The destination behind each code can be changed without a reprint, the scan analytics are GDPR-clean by design, and because every code is built on the client's own GTINs, nothing about the deliverable locks them to your studio — or to us.
What to put behind the code
- A hosted page at launch — product, brand, photo and links, served by us — swapped for the client's full site when it ships, no reprint
- Per-batch pages, so one production run can tell its own story
- A recall destination you can switch on for a single lot while every other unit keeps working
- The client's provenance story — the maker, the region, the method
- Scan analytics the client can check themselves — volume, country, device, with no cookies and no IP addresses stored
What a page does that fine print can't
A web page can do things a printed agencies & printers panel physically cannot: it can be read aloud by a screen reader, zoomed to any type size, searched for a single allergen, translated into the reader's language, and corrected after the pack has shipped. For a shopper with low vision, an allergy, or another language, that is the difference between information that exists and information they can actually use — and you don't have to build the page yourself: hosted pages serve it at the scan URL, cookie-free and changeable at any time after printing.
Your agencies & printers Sunrise 2027 checklist
Specific to agencies & printers
Every brand does these
How you can check we're right
Every claim on this page is testable, and we'd rather you tested it than took our word for it.
- Paste a code into the parser to see exactly what a till reads out of it — the GTIN, the batch, the best-before, field by field.
- Read our GS1 conformance test results — the full suite we run against the standard, with what passes and what doesn't.
- Work through the Sunrise 2027 checklist for the general picture beyond agencies & printers.
- Read what a Digital Link actually is — the structure, and why a till and a phone read the same symbol differently.
- Check the print size before artwork goes to press — the X-dimension GS1 specifies, and what it works out to in millimetres.
Common questions
Can I manage several clients from one login?
Yes. Create a separate organisation for each client and switch between them from the same account. Products, codes, analytics and billing stay separate per organisation, and you can invite colleagues or the client themselves into any of them.
Who owns the codes when the engagement ends?
Your client does, in every way that matters. The codes are built on the client's own GTINs, and you can transfer ownership of the organisation to them at handover — you step down to admin, or leave entirely. Nothing about the deliverable ties them to your studio, or to us.
What files do I get for artwork?
SVG for print and PNG for screen, with the four-module quiet zone GS1 requires already part of the file. Drop it into the artwork at the size the X-dimension demands and the clear border takes care of itself.
What is the artwork spec for a Digital Link QR at retail?
An X-dimension — the width of one module — of at least 0.396 mm, with GS1's target at 0.495 mm; a quiet zone of four modules on all sides; dark modules on a light background. Our print size guide works those figures through to overall millimetre sizes for the data being encoded.
How do I prove to a client that a code is correct?
Paste it into our Digital Link parser to show them exactly what a retail scanner extracts — the GTIN and every other identifier, one field at a time — and point them at our published GS1 conformance results, the test suite we run against the standard itself.
Isn't this the QR code my design tool already makes?
No. A design tool encodes whatever text you hand it; it knows nothing of GS1's URI syntax or your client's GTIN. A Digital Link QR is a barcode first: a retail scanner pulls the GTIN out of the URI's structure and processes the sale offline. The pixels look similar — what is encoded in them is not.
What if the client doesn't have a product site to point the codes at?
Ship the code anyway. Turn on a hosted page and the scan lands on a page we serve — the product's name, brand and photo, and every link you add later — fully customisable per client, with no cookies and no user data collected from shoppers. When the client's site ships, switch the code to a redirect; the artwork never changes.
Do you offer white-label or a partner programme?
Not yet, and we would rather say so plainly than promise one. If you are putting codes on client packaging regularly, write to hello@2dready.com — we want to know what a partner programme should look like before we build one.
Is it free?
Ten products are free forever — no card required. Pro is £10/month when you need more, with your own domain on the codes included.
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