EAN-13 Barcode Generator
The barcode on almost every retail product outside North America. Thirteen digits identifying one product, with the last calculated from the twelve before it.
The bars are the easy half. The thirteen digits have to be a number GS1 allocated to you, because the point of a retail barcode is that it means the same product everywhere it is scanned. The format also has a nominal size that retailers hold suppliers to, so it is not free to scale to fit a design.
- Retail products
- Point of sale
- Grocery and FMCG
- Product registration
Preview
Format Guide
EAN-13 — European Article Number (13 digits).
Enter 12-13 digits
What is EAN-13?
EAN-13 is the retail barcode used through most of the world. Its thirteen digits are a GS1 company prefix, an item reference chosen by the company holding that prefix, and a final check digit calculated from the twelve before it. The number identifies one product configuration globally, which is what lets any retailer's register recognize it, and is also why the number has to be licensed rather than invented.
Technical characteristics
- Length
- Exactly 13 digits, fixed
- Structure
- GS1 company prefix, item reference, check digit
- Check digit
- Modulo 10, calculated by the generator
- Character set
- Digits only
- Relationship to UPC-A
- A UPC-A number is an EAN-13 with a leading zero
Where the number comes from
Drawing the bars is the easy half. The number inside them has to be one you were allocated, because the whole point of a retail barcode is that it means the same product everywhere it is scanned.
You apply to GS1 and receive a company prefix. Everything after that prefix is yours to assign across your product range, and the final digit is arithmetic on the others. A number you invented may already belong to somebody else, and the first you will hear about it is a retailer refusing the line.
The prefix is not a country of origin
This is the most persistent myth about retail barcodes, and it circulates as advice about how to tell where a product was made. It is wrong.
The leading digits identify the GS1 member organization that issued the prefix, not the country of manufacture and not the country of sale. A company that joins GS1 in one country and manufactures in another carries the first number on goods made in the second, permanently, and there is nothing unusual about that.
Printing it at a size the till will accept
EAN-13 has a nominal size rather than a free choice: roughly 37mm wide and 26mm tall at 100%, including the light margins on each side. The standard permits scaling that between about 80% and 200%, and retailers hold suppliers to it.
- Do not trim the height to fit a design. A short symbol gives the scan line less to catch and is a common reason a code that reads on a desk fails on a moving belt.
- Do not crop the light margins. The digits printed at each end sit inside them and mark where the quiet zone has to be.
- Below about 80% you are outside what the standard allows, whatever your phone says about it.
EAN-13 FAQs
Can I invent my own EAN-13 number?
You can generate a barcode from any thirteen digits, and it will scan. What you cannot do is use it in retail: the number must come from a GS1 company prefix licensed to you, or it may collide with another company's product.
Do I enter the check digit?
Either way works. Enter twelve digits and the generator calculates the thirteenth; enter all thirteen and it validates the one you supplied.
What is the difference between EAN-13 and UPC-A?
Length. UPC-A is twelve digits and is used in the United States and Canada; EAN-13 is thirteen and is used elsewhere. A UPC-A number is the same number as the EAN-13 that starts with a zero, and modern tills read both.
Do I type 12 digits or 13?
Either. Enter 12 and the thirteenth — the check digit — is calculated and drawn for you, which is the safer route. Enter all 13 and yours is used as given, so a mistyped check digit becomes a barcode that scans as a different product or refuses to scan at all. Anything shorter than 12 or longer than 13 is rejected before a symbol is drawn.