EAN-13 Barcode Generator

Digit structure and the GS1 prefix

An EAN-13 number breaks down into three parts before the final check digit: a 2-3 digit GS1 prefix (assigned to the GS1 member organization where the manufacturer registered — not necessarily where the product is made), a manufacturer/company code, and a product reference number the manufacturer assigns internally. Together, those 12 digits plus the check digit form the GTIN-13.

Do you need a GS1-licensed number?

A real EAN-13 number has to come from a GS1-licensed manufacturer prefix to be globally unique and usable at retail — a barcode generated here is a correctly-formed, scannable EAN-13 image, but generating one doesn't register a GTIN in GS1's database. If you're selling through a retailer or marketplace that checks GTINs, you'll need a licensed number; for internal use or any system you control, a generated one works as-is.

The check digit

EAN-13's check digit uses a standard mod-10 algorithm: starting from the digit immediately to the left of the check digit and moving left, digits alternate weights of 3 and 1. Multiply each digit by its weight, sum the results, and the check digit is whatever value brings that sum up to the next multiple of 10. This generator computes it for you — just enter the first 12 digits.

Where EAN-13 is used

EAN-13 is the default retail barcode across Europe, Asia, and most of the world outside the US and Canada (where UPC-A is more common, though EAN-13 scanners read UPC-A too). It's also the base format behind ISBN barcodes on books (the Bookland 978/979 prefix) and EAN-8 for very small packages. If you're labeling a retail product for an international audience, EAN-13 is the format scanners expect.

Sizing and printing guidance

GS1's specification gives EAN-13 a nominal size of 37.29 mm × 25.93 mm at 100% magnification, with an acceptable range from 80% to 200% of that size — shrink it further and scanners start to struggle, especially under warehouse or store lighting rather than a controlled lab setting.

Quiet zones

Quiet zones — the clear margins on either side of the bars — need to be at least 11 times the x-dimension (narrow bar width) on the left and 7 times on the right; EAN-13's right-hand quiet zone is intentionally narrower than the left because of how the symbol's guard patterns are structured. Crowding either margin is one of the most common reasons a technically-correct barcode fails to scan.

Printing guidance

For retail packaging, print at 300 dpi minimum, never scale below 80% magnification, and keep bars pure black on a white or light background — GS1 explicitly discourages low-contrast or reversed (light-on-dark) printing because it degrades scan rates.