EAN-13 Barcode Generator
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EAN-13 is the barcode on almost every retail product sold outside North America: a GS1 company prefix, your own item reference, and a thirteenth digit that exists only so a scanner can tell instantly that it misread one of the other twelve. Type the first twelve and that check digit is calculated here; type all thirteen and it is verified, and if it is wrong you are told which digit it should have been rather than just being told “invalid”. Download the PNG at print resolution, or the SVG if a print shop is doing the work.
What the thirteen digits mean
An EAN-13 is not one number but three parts. The first digits are a GS1 company prefix, licensed to a business — its length varies with how many products the company registered for, which is why you cannot tell where the prefix ends just by looking. The digits after it are that company’s own item reference, assigned however it likes. The last digit is a check digit, arithmetic on the twelve before it, and the only part this tool can work out for you.
The leading digits also hint at where a number was issued — 978 and 979 are books (an ISBN printed as an EAN-13), 020 to 029 are reserved for in-store use — but they do not tell you where a product was made, despite a persistent belief otherwise.
Size, and the 80% floor
EAN-13 has a defined nominal size: at 100% magnification the symbol is 37.29 mm wide by 25.93 mm high, built on a 0.33 mm narrow bar. GS1 allows retail packaging to scale that between 80% and 200%, and 80% is a floor rather than a suggestion — below it, the fixed-position scanners at supermarket tills start failing, and a barcode that fails at the till is the one thing a retailer will reject artwork over. Download the SVG for packaging work so whoever sets the artwork can place it at an exact magnification rather than scaling a bitmap and hoping.
Do not truncate the bar height to fit a design, either. The long bars exist so a scanner sweeping at an angle still crosses every bar; a shortened symbol scans from fewer directions, which shows up as till staff trying three times.
Using this number on a real product
The symbol is free to make and correct in every technical sense. Whether you may put it on something you sell is about the number: retailers and marketplaces expect a GTIN issued to your business through GS1, and Amazon checks new listings against the GS1 registry. Invented digits are fine for mock-ups, artwork proofs, internal testing and photography, and they will scan — they simply are not yours. For anything internal that never crosses a till, Code 128 avoids the question completely — and the barcode generator has every other symbology if EAN-13 turns out to be the wrong one.
Frequently asked questions
How is the 13th digit calculated?
Every second digit counting from the right is tripled, the rest are added as they are, and the check digit is whatever takes that total up to the next multiple of ten. Type twelve digits here and it is done for you.
Can I invent my own 13 digits?
You can, and it will scan — but the first digits of a real EAN-13 identify a company that licensed them from GS1, so an invented number may already belong to somebody else’s product. That matters the moment a retailer scans it.
What size does EAN-13 have to be printed?
At 100% magnification the symbol is about 37.3 × 25.9 mm with a 0.33 mm narrow bar. GS1 allows 80% to 200% of that for retail packaging; below 80% supermarket scanners start to struggle.
Can I make an EAN-13 from 12 digits?
Yes — that is the usual way round. Type the twelve and the thirteenth is calculated here and shown, so you also learn what the finished number is.
What do the first three digits mean?
They are the start of the GS1 prefix the number was issued under. They correspond to the issuing GS1 member organisation, not to a country of manufacture, and 978/979 mean the number is a book’s ISBN.
Why is my 13-digit number rejected?
Because the final digit does not match the arithmetic on the other twelve — almost always a mistyped or transposed digit. The page names the digit it should be and offers to correct it.
Is EAN-13 the same as a GTIN-13?
The number is a GTIN-13; EAN-13 is the barcode symbol that carries it. In everyday use the terms are swapped freely.
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