Barcode EAN explained

Code EAN (EAN stands for European Article Numbering) is the slightly enhanced version of Code UPC. Like its north american counterpart it is used in retail.

ean 13 image

The code comes in two flavors: EAN 13 with 12 digits plus checksum (see image) and EAN 8 with 7 digits plus checksum. In addition EAN 13 can carry a so called AddOn Code with 2 or 5 digits. With an AddOn this code is used to encode ISBN / ISSN / Bookland numbers:

isbn bookland image

Sample codes created with our barcode plugin for Adobe Illustrator.

The AddOn usually (but not always) encodes the price of the product. The new ISBN-13 codes are standard EAN 13 codes with AddOn, with the first three digits set to "978" or "979". Therefore you can use any software capable of creating EAN with Addon to create ISBN-13.

Special forms

Code EAN 99: Basically an EAN 13, the first two digits are set to "99".
Code EAN Velocity: Basically an EAN 8, the first two digits are set to "00".

An EAN barcode is easily recognized from it's distinctive positioning of human-readable text and the left and right margin bar-space patterns.

Code structure

The code is constructed as follows:

2-digit. Country Code (e.g. 40 - 43: Germany)

5-digit. Manufacturer number

5-digit. Product number

EAN manufacturer numbers are maintained by your country's EAN branch. To apply for a ISBN number see here.

More facts about this barcode

Application: Retail
Characters: Numbers 0-9
Checksum: Always
Checksum calculation: Modulo 10 with weights 1 and 3

Software to generate Code EAN 8 / EAN 13 / ISBN / Bookland

Download Software to create this barcode (Windows / Mac OS X)

See our FAQ for more informations about this barcode symbology.