What is EAN-13 Barcode?
International Article Number (EAN-13) used for retail product checkout worldwide. Defined under standard GS1 General Specifications / ISO/IEC 15420, EAN-13 is engineered for fast, reliable optical scanning across industrial and commercial environments.
| Specification | Details |
|---|
| Standard Symbology | EAN-13 (GS1 General Specifications / ISO/IEC 15420) |
| Character Set | 13 Numeric digits (0-9) |
| Checksum Algorithm | Modulo 10 check digit (1x odd positions + 3x even positions) |
| Quiet Zone Margin | 11 times the X-dimension on left side, 7 times on right side |
| Processing Mode | 100% Client-Side In-Browser (Zero Server Logs) |
📐Engineering Specification
Deep-Dive: How EAN-13 Encodes Data
EAN-13 (International Article Number) is the international retail standard defined by GS1 and ISO/IEC 15420. Scanned at retail POS checkouts in more than 150 countries worldwide across Europe, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, and Africa, EAN-13 encodes 13 numeric digits. Crucially, EAN-13 is fully backward-compatible with North American UPC-A: prepending a leading zero (0) to any 12-digit UPC-A turns it into a valid 13-digit EAN-13.
⚙️ GS1 Country Prefix Assignment & Parity Encoding
EAN-13 does not encode its first digit directly with bars. Instead, it is cleverly derived from the parity sequence of the left six digits:
- ›GS1 Country Prefix (Digits 1–3): Indicates the regional GS1 Member Organization that licensed the prefix (e.g., 000–139 for US/Canada, 400–440 for Germany, 500–509 for the UK, 450–459 & 490–499 for Japan, 890 for India). Note: Prefix denotes licensing office, not country of manufacture.
- ›Manufacturer Prefix & Item Reference (Digits 4–12): Identifies the registered brand enterprise and product variation.
- ›Variable Parity Encoding: Digits 2 through 7 alternate between A-parity (odd) and B-parity (even) patterns. The exact combination mathematically signals the value of Digit 1 without consuming physical bar space.
- ›Right Data Characters (Digits 8–13): Encoded strictly with C-parity patterns, ending with the standard GS1 Modulo 10 check digit.
🔬 Physical Barcode Anatomy & Zone Breakdown
Left Quiet Zone (Margin)
Minimum 11 modules wide, keeping clear of text, package seams, and graphics.
Left Guard Bars
Boundary bars (101) that guide optical pickup during high-speed conveyor or POS scanning.
6 Left Digits
Data encoded with dynamic A/B parity tables.
Center Guard Pattern
Central separator bars (01010) allowing omnidirectional reading from either scan direction.
6 Right Digits
Data encoded with C-parity tables containing item references and the check digit.
Right Quiet Zone & Corner Mark
Minimum 7 modules of margin, often indicated by a ">" quiet zone indicator symbol.
🖨️ Production & Printing Best Practices
- ✔Maintain standard GS1 nominal dimensions: 37.29 mm width x 25.93 mm height at 100% scale. Do not truncate the vertical bar height below 80% (20.74 mm) to preserve omnidirectional scannability.
- ✔Leave at least 3.63 mm of unprinted white margin on the left quiet zone and 2.31 mm on the right quiet zone.
- ✔Ensure proper print resolution: direct thermal or thermal transfer at 203 DPI or 300 DPI, or high-resolution offset printing directly on packaging die-lines.
📷Optical Scanner Compatibility: Universally accepted by point-of-sale laser scanners, omnidirectional checkout scanners, industrial sorters, and camera-based mobile scanning SDKs.
⚠️ Official Retail & GS1 Compliance Notice
MakeMyBarcode generates standard-compliant, high-resolution barcode images for free. However, MakeMyBarcode does not assign official company prefixes. If you are selling products in commercial retail stores (Amazon, Walmart, Target), you must license your official company prefix directly from GS1.