EAN-13 Barcode Generator

What an EAN-13 barcode is

EAN-13 is the retail barcode used in most of the world. It carries a 13-digit product number, a GTIN-13, and it is the barcode European, Asian and Latin American shops scan at the till. Shops in the USA and Canada have read it too since 2005. EAN stands for European Article Number: the system started in 1977, when European retailers adopted a 13-digit version of the American UPC. The association that ran it grew into GS1 and took that name in 2005.

The number is the part that matters. A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) names one product, in one size and one variant, anywhere in the world, and the bars are a way for a scanner to read it quickly. Next to the EAN-13, a pack can also carry a QR code with a GS1 Digital Link for phones.

What each part of an EAN-13 means

The first two or three digits are the GS1 prefix. Then comes your company prefix and the item reference you choose for each product, and the last digit is a check digit calculated from the other twelve. How many digits go to the company and how many to the item depends on how large a block of numbers your company licensed. Not sure the number in front of you is an EAN at all? The barcode identifier tells you what it is.

The digit with no bars

Count the digit groups under the bars: 6 and 6. The 13th digit, the one printed on its own at the far left, is not drawn as bars at all. It is encoded in the pattern of the left six digits, each of which can be drawn in one of two ways. That trick is what let a 13-digit European code fit the same 95 modules as a 12-digit UPC, and it is why a UPC-A is an EAN-13 whose hidden digit is 0. The rules are in ISO/IEC 15420.

The small barcode on the right

Books and magazines often carry a second, shorter barcode to the right of the main one. That is an add-on, with 5 or 2 digits of its own. It is not part of the GTIN, and the section on books and magazines below explains what goes in it.

The prefix is not a country of origin

The prefix tells you which GS1 office issued the company number, not where the product was made or packed. A few common ranges from GS1's prefix list:

The right size for an EAN-13

At 100% magnification the narrowest bar, the X-dimension, is 0.330 mm, or 13 mils if you switch the units to mils. The barcode is 37.29 mm wide including its quiet zones, and the bars are 22.85 mm tall, with the digits printed below them. The GS1 General Specifications allow 80% to 200% for the till, so from 29.83 to 74.58 mm wide. Labels printed on demand, on a thermal or laser printer, may go down to 75% if the bars are made taller so the barcode keeps at least the area of an 80% one. The generator warns you below 80%.

The quiet zones are not symmetrical: 11 modules on the left, where the hidden 13th digit is printed, and 7 on the right. The small > printed at the right end marks where the right zone ends, so a designer can see how much room to leave. Keep the bars at full height; scaling the whole barcode keeps it readable, cutting the bars short does not. On a narrow side panel, turn the barcode instead with Rotation under More settings.

When the pack is too small: EAN-8

For packs where even an 80% EAN-13 will not fit, such as lip balm or a pack of chewing gum, there is EAN-8: 26.73 mm wide with bars 18.23 mm tall at 100%. GS1 allows it only on small packs, such as those with less than 80 cm² of printable area, and the number comes from your GS1 office rather than from your own prefix, so ask before planning on one. The main generator draws EAN-8 too.

Books and magazines: the add-on

A book's ISBN-13 is an EAN-13 starting with 978 or 979, and a magazine's barcode is an EAN-13 starting with 977. Both often carry the add-on to the right. Books use five digits, an EAN-5, for the price: in the USA a 5 followed by the price, so 51999 is $19.99, and 90000 when no price is printed. Four digits hold at most $99.99. Magazines use two digits, an EAN-2, for the issue number.

The generator draws both. Type the main number, open More settings and enter 2 or 5 digits under Add-on. The share link keeps the add-on, so a designer who opens it sees the same barcode. Outside the USA, the ISBN Users' Manual says the add-on should not carry a price; use 90000 to 98999. If your ISBN has only 10 digits, convert it with the ISBN converter before you start.

To work out the five digits for a US price, or to read the ones already on a cover, use this builder.

Printing an EAN-13

Choose where the barcode will be printed under Printing on. Office printer sets 100% and a PDF; print it at 100% or Actual size, never Fit to page. Print shop sets 100% and an EPS file for your designer. Amazon keeps the full size with the digits shown. Label printer snaps every bar to whole dots at 203, 300 or 600 dpi, because a bar that falls between dots prints one dot too wide or too narrow.

Packaging printers think in bar width reduction, not in magnification alone. Ask the print shop for their figure, set it under More settings, and send the EPS or PDF. If the design needs coloured bars, choose them there too: the contrast check looks at the colours the way a scanner does, under red light, so it passes dark blue on white and stops red on white. On an office or label printer, print the Print test page from under the download button and measure its 100 mm ruler with a real ruler to see whether your printer scaled the page.

Mistakes that make an EAN-13 fail

A number that is not yours is the costliest. Numbers sold by resellers were licensed to other companies, and marketplaces such as Amazon check the owner in the GS1 database. A wrong check digit is a common technical fault, usually from a number typed by hand; the generator tells you the right digit before you download anything. To check a whole list first, use the check digit calculator.

On the printed pack, watch the quiet zones, the size and the colours. Text or a fold running through the 11 or 7 module zones, a barcode shrunk below 80%, red bars, or bars on a dark background will all fail at some tills even if your phone reads them. Give your packaging designer the EPS, PDF or SVG file rather than a PNG, so the bars stay exact at whatever size they place it. If an old label is already too damaged to scan, the barcode repair tool can recover a missing digit from the check digit.

Frequently asked questions