Technical Specifications
- Standard
- ISO/IEC 15420 / GS1 General Specifications
- Character Set
- Numeric digits only (0–9)
- Payload Length
- 12 data digits + 1 Mod-10 check digit (total 13 digits)
- Size
- Bar width (X-dimension) 0.264–0.660 mm, target 0.330 mm: 37.29 mm wide incl. quiet zones, bars 22.85 mm high
- Quiet Zones
- Left: 3.63mm (11X), Right: 2.31mm (7X)
Standard Industry Use Cases
- Global retail packaging (Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia)
- Supermarket Point of Sale (POS) laser scanning checkouts
- Amazon, eBay, and Google Shopping product identifier listings
- Inventory control and consumer packaged goods (CPG)
How to Make, Print & Test Your EAN-13 Code
Step by step
- Get your product number (GTIN-13) from GS1, or from your retailer if it assigns numbers. Don't make up numbers for products sold in shops or on marketplaces. Our guide How to get a barcode for your product explains how.
- Open the studio with EAN-13 selected (the button above does this) and type the first 12 digits. The 13th check digit is calculated for you. If you enter all 13, the studio checks the last one. Got a 12-digit number instead? That's a UPC-A: see UPC vs EAN-13.
- Keep the human-readable digits under the bars switched on, as retail packaging needs them.
- Scan the preview with the built-in barcode scanner or a phone to confirm it reads back the right 13 digits.
- Download SVG for packaging artwork (vector, so bars stay exact at any size), or print sheets with the Avery label maker.
Printing & size
- Size: GS1 sets the size by the width of the narrowest bar (the X-dimension). At the target of 0.330 mm, an EAN-13 is 37.29 mm wide including its margins, with bars 22.85 mm high. You can scale it between 0.264 mm and 0.660 mm (often called 80% to 200%); don't go below the minimum for retail checkout.
- Margins: keep the blank quiet zones, 11 bar-widths on the left and 7 on the right. Don't let text, borders or artwork touch the bars.
- Height: don't cut the bars shorter to save space. Truncated barcodes are harder to scan from different angles.
- Colours: black or dark blue bars on white work best. Red bars don't scan, because red-light checkout scanners see red as white.
- Resize the SVG, not a small PNG. Stretching a low-resolution image in Word or Canva makes bar widths uneven.
Common mistakes
- Buying cheap numbers from resellers for products sold on Amazon or in retail chains. These platforms check barcodes against the GS1 database, and numbers registered to another company can get listings blocked.
- Printing too small or too short to fit a small pack. Use a smaller size within GS1's allowed range, or ask your GS1 office about EAN-8 for very small items.
- Low contrast, such as grey on kraft paper or bars on a busy background.
- Not test-scanning a printed proof before a full print run.
Key Benefits of EAN-13
Global Omnidirectional POS Scanning
Read instantaneously by laser checkout scanners across Europe, UK, Asia, Australia, and Latin America.
Built-in Mod-10 Parity Check
The 13th digit prevents misreads, data corruption, or manual cashier entry errors.
Prepress Vector Accuracy
Export scalable SVGs with calibrated quiet zones ready for offset and flexographic commercial packaging print runs.
What Code Do I Need for My Product? (Customer Decision Guide)
Choosing the right barcode format depends on where your product is sold, the packaging substrate, and scanner infrastructure:
Selling packaged retail goods outside the US?
EAN-13 is the standard checkout barcode for consumer products in supermarkets and retail chains in most countries outside the US and Canada.
Selling on Amazon or Google Shopping globally?
EAN-13 numbers function as standard 13-digit Global Trade Item Numbers (GTIN-13) accepted on all major e-commerce marketplaces.
Need barcodes for internal warehouse or asset tracking?
Use an internal identifier in a format such as Code 128 when the code stays inside your own system. Confirm the format and data rules with the warehouse, retailer or platform that will receive it.
GS1 Registration Rules & Retail Pre-Print Requirements
- Open-market commercial retail requires an authorized Company Prefix issued by your national GS1 organization (e.g., GS1 US, GS1 UK, GS1 India). You cannot invent random numbers for commercial retail.
- Always keep the quiet zones clear (3.63 mm on the left, 2.31 mm on the right at the target size). Text or artwork inside them, or shortened (truncated) bars, make the barcode harder to scan; GS1 advises against both.
- Never print in colour combinations that look low-contrast under red light (e.g., red bars on white, or black bars on green). Checkout scanners use red light, so bars must be dark and the background light. Retailers that test print quality grade it under ISO/IEC 15416.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the 13th check digit of an EAN-13 barcode calculated?
The 13th digit is a GS1 Modulo-10 checksum calculated by multiplying odd-positioned digits by 1 and even-positioned digits by 3, summing them, and determining the remainder needed to round up to the nearest multiple of 10. Our generator calculates this automatically.
Do I need to buy official EAN-13 numbers from GS1?
Retailers and marketplaces may require a licensed GS1 GTIN. For closed-loop inventory that does not need a retail GTIN, use an internal identifier in a format such as Code 128 and confirm the receiving system accepts it.
Can I download an EAN-13 barcode in vector SVG for packaging design?
Yes. Our generator produces infinitely scalable vector SVG files that can be imported directly into Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or InDesign for prepress commercial packaging.
What size should I print an EAN-13 barcode?
At GS1's target size (narrowest bar 0.330 mm) it is 37.29 mm wide including the margins, with bars 22.85 mm high. The smallest allowed for retail checkout (0.264 mm bars) is 29.83 mm wide with 18.28 mm bars; the largest is twice the target. Always keep the margins and the full bar height.
Can a US store scan an EAN-13 barcode?
Yes. Scanners in the US and Canada read EAN-13 as well as UPC-A, and a UPC-A number is simply an EAN-13 with a leading zero. Some US retailers still ask suppliers for UPC-A, so check your retailer's requirements.
Can I use EAN-13 barcodes for my own stock or inventory without GS1?
Yes, for internal use such as your own shelves or warehouse. GS1 numbers are only required when the product is sold through retailers or marketplaces that expect a globally unique product number.