Free EAN-13 Barcode Generator

What Is EAN-13?

EAN-13 (European Article Number, 13 digits) is the global standard for retail product identification, maintained by GS1. It is used on virtually every consumer product sold outside North America, and increasingly on products sold globally. The standard became ISO/IEC 15420 in 2000, cementing it as the international equivalent of the North American UPC system.

The 13 digits are structured as: a 2–3 digit GS1 country prefix (assigned to the company, not the product's country of origin), a company-assigned manufacturer code, a product reference number, and a single check digit. A UPC-A is an EAN-13 with the leading digit being zero — any EAN-13 scanner reads both formats.

EAN-13 Printing Requirements

GS1 specifies a nominal symbol height of 69 bar modules (about 22.85 mm at 100% magnification) and allows magnification between 80% and 200%. The minimum quiet zone is 3.63 mm on the left and 2.31 mm on the right. The human-readable numerals below the bars are a mandatory part of the symbol — do not omit them or position them inside the bars.

For flexible packaging (bags, pouches), use the EAN-13 Omni-directional symbol, which is 150% of nominal size to compensate for distortion during printing on stretch film. When the label is smaller than 21 mm in any direction, consider EAN-8 instead — a compressed 8-digit variant for small packaging.

Frequently Asked Questions