An EAN-13 barcode (originally European Article Number, but now renamed International Article Number even though the abbreviation EAN has been retained) is a 13 digit (12 data and 1 check) barcoding standard which is a superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC) system developed in the United States.[1] The EAN-13 barcode is defined by the standards organization GS1.
The EAN-13 barcodes are used worldwide for marking products often sold at retail point of sale. The numbers encoded in EAN-13 bar codes are product identification numbers, which are also called Japanese Article Number (JAN) in Japan. All the numbers encoded in UPC and EAN barcodes are known as Global Trade Item Numbers (GTIN), and they can be encoded in other GS1 barcodes.
The less commonly used EAN-8 barcodes are used also for marking retail goods; however, they are usually reserved for smaller items, for example confectionery.
2-digit (EAN 2) and 5-digit (EAN 5) supplemental barcodes may be added for a total of 14 or 17 data digits. These are generally used for periodicals (to indicate the serial number), or books and weighed products like food (to indicate the selling price), respectively.
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The GTIN-13 encoded in the bar code has four components:
The complete number is used as a reference key to look up information about the product line held on a database; the number is never normally broken down into its components within users' systems.
The first two or three digits of the GTIN of any product identify the GS1 Member Organization which the manufacturer has joined. Note that EAN-13 codes beginning with 0 are rarely seen, as this is just a longer form of a 12-digit UPC and is represented by the same barcode.
The 200-299 country code is worth a special mention; most GS1 member organizations define this as being available for retailer internal use (or internal use by other types of business). Some retailers use this for proprietary (own brand or unbranded) products (although many retailers obtain their own manufacturer's code for their own brands); some retailers use at least part of this prefix for products which are packaged in store, for example, items weighed and served over a counter for a customer. The barcode may encode a price, quantity or weight along with a product identifier (in a retailer defined way); the product identifier may be one assigned by the Produce Electronic Identification Board or may be retailer assigned. Retailers who have historically used UPC barcodes will tend to use GS1 prefixes 04 (for products) and 02 (for store packaged products) in a similar way.
The checksum digit must be calculated from the data digits before it can be encoded. The checksum is calculated taking a varying weight value times the value of each number in the barcode to make a sum. The checksum digit is then the digit which must be added to this sum to get a number evenly divisible by 10 (i.e. the additive inverse of the sum, modulo 10).
The weight for a specific position in the EAN code is either 3 or 1, which alternate so that the final data digit has a weight of 3; the same algorithm is used in other GTINs and the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC). In an EAN-13 code, the weight is 3 for even positions and 1 for odd positions; this is reversed in EAN-8 codes.[3] All GTIN and SSCC codes get their weight values for the position of the code from this table, making their code line up to the right:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Weights for EAN-13 code:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
For example: 4006381333931 (Stabilo Point 88 Art. No. 88/57), the check code is:
| First 12 digits of the barcode | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| Weights | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Multiplied by weight | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 24 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Sum | 89 |
The nearest multiple of 10 that is equal or higher than the sum, is 90. Subtract them: 90 - 89 = 1, this is the last digit of the barcode.
Taking the numbers from an EAN 8 code we get: 7351353 or in the table:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| Weight | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Code | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Sums | 21 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 9 |
The sum from this barcode is then: 63
63 modulo 10 = 3
10 minus 3 makes the checksum = 7
The complete EAN 8 code is then: 73513537
To encode an EAN-13 barcode, the digits are first split into 3 groups; the first digit, the first group of 6 and the last group of 6. The first group of six is encoded using a scheme whereby each digit has two possible encodings, one of which has even parity and one of which has odd parity. The first digit is encoded by selecting a pattern of choices between these two encodings for the next six digits, according to the table below. (Unlike the other digits, the first digit is not represented directly by a pattern of bars.) All digits in the last group of six digits are encoded using a single set of patterns which are the same patterns used for UPC.
If the first digit is zero, all digits in the first group of six are encoded using the patterns used for UPC, therefore, a UPC barcode is also an EAN-13 barcode with the first digit set to zero.
| First digit | First group of 6 digits | Last group of 6 digits |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | LLLLLL | RRRRRR |
| 1 | LLGLGG | RRRRRR |
| 2 | LLGGLG | RRRRRR |
| 3 | LLGGGL | RRRRRR |
| 4 | LGLLGG | RRRRRR |
| 5 | LGGLLG | RRRRRR |
| 6 | LGGGLL | RRRRRR |
| 7 | LGLGLG | RRRRRR |
| 8 | LGLGGL | RRRRRR |
| 9 | LGGLGL | RRRRRR |
| Digit | L-code | G-code | R-code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0001101 | 0100111 | 1110010 |
| 1 | 0011001 | 0110011 | 1100110 |
| 2 | 0010011 | 0011011 | 1101100 |
| 3 | 0111101 | 0100001 | 1000010 |
| 4 | 0100011 | 0011101 | 1011100 |
| 5 | 0110001 | 0111001 | 1001110 |
| 6 | 0101111 | 0000101 | 1010000 |
| 7 | 0111011 | 0010001 | 1000100 |
| 8 | 0110111 | 0001001 | 1001000 |
| 9 | 0001011 | 0010111 | 1110100 |
Note: Entries in the R-column are bitwise complements (logical operator: negation) of the respective entries in the L-column. Entries in the G-column are the entries in the R-column in reverse digit order. See pictures of all codes against a colored background.
The EAN country codes 978 (and later 979) have been allocated since the 1980s in order to reserve a Unique Country Code (UCC) prefix for EAN identifiers of published books, regardless of country of origin, so that the EAN space can catalog books by ISBN rather than maintaining a redundant parallel numbering system. Similar arrangements are in place for ISSNs (for periodicals) and ISMNs (for sheet music).
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