Publishing turns a draft into a public passport with a QR code for every size. It is the point where the record stops being yours alone.
What publishing does
- The record is validated. Anything still missing is listed and publishing stops until it is resolved.
- An immutable snapshot is frozen. The passport a customer scans is exactly the record you approved, not whatever the draft looks like later.
- A passport identifier is minted for every size that has a barcode and a quantity.
- A QR code is generated per size on the GS1 Digital Link standard. If style QR codes are switched on, one more code per colour covers every size; see Print care labels and QR codes.
Publish one product
Open the product and choose Publish. The publish panel shows what will be created: one passport per size, with the identifier and the URL for each.
If something is missing, the panel says what and links to the field.
Publish a whole order
From a purchase order, Publish All Ready publishes every style in that order that passes validation and skips the rest, so one blocked style does not hold up the others.
What a customer sees
A branded page with your logo, colours and, if you have set one up, your own domain. It shows the garment images, composition, care symbols and text, certifications, the production countries you chose to disclose, and repair information where you offer it.
How much of the supply chain is recorded and visible is your decision, set once on the Passport page under Passport Blocks, Supply chain:
- Entities And Countries records named suppliers and shows them with their countries.
- Entities Traced, Countries Shown records named suppliers but shows countries only.
- Countries Only records and shows countries, without supplier names.
- Countries Traced, Not Shown records countries and shows nothing.
- Not Traced records and shows nothing, and hides the fields in the editor.
The same published record feeds the retailer feeds a marketplace asks for, one row per size with the passport link in every row.
Correcting a published product
Edit the product as usual. The change does not reach the public passport until you publish again, and the product is marked as having unpublished changes in the meantime.
Republishing keeps the existing identifiers. A QR code already printed on a garment keeps resolving to the current passport, so a correction never strands a code that is already in the world.
What publishing does not do
It does not change your barcodes. GTINs come from your GS1 member organisation and stay yours.
It does not need a GS1 resolver or the GS1 number bank. A Digital Link only has to be well-formed and carry a GTIN your brand owns; GS1 UK support confirmed this to us in September 2026.
It does not delete anything. Previous versions of the record remain in the audit trail.
It does not expire. Published passports stay online, including after a subscription ends, because codes printed on garments cannot be recalled.
Approvals
If a partner or supplier prepares products for you, they can submit a product for approval instead of publishing it. You get a notification, review the changes, and approve or reject with a reason. Only your own team can publish.
