What is EAN 13?

EAN 13 consists of 12 characters of data. The 13th digit is the check digit.

How do I calculate the check digit?

This is easy, lets look at some data. Our Data 800377350000

All odd numbers are multiplied by 1 and the even number by 3.

Example.

Char. Pos E O E O E O E O E O E O
Data 8 0 0 3 7 7 3 5 0 0 0 0
Multiply 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
Results 8 0 0 9 7 21 3 15 0 0 0 0


The total minus the Modula 10 value of the total give you the check digit number.

What is the Layout of the Barcode?

Below is a simple layout of the barcode.

Start Character Defining Parity Left Hand Digits Center Bar Right Hand Data Check Digit Stop Character
1 Digit 1 Digits 6 Digits 1 Digits 5 Digit 1 Digits 1 Digit

 

How do I encode the Barcode?

Ok, to start with we have a parity table, this table gives details of how the Barcode is compiled according to varying data. The first digit is used to define the parity. So in our case, the defining digit is the number 8.

A parity table encodes the Barcode to use the correct characters in the Font.

In the table below you will notice the letter A & B. These denote parity and the parity in the fonts is defined as follows.

Parity Set A

Font Character
Numeric Pos   

Parity Set B
Font Character
Numeric Pos    

Parity Set C
Font Character
Numeric Pos

0
0


a
0


A
0

1
1


b
1


B
1

2
2


c
2


C
2

3
3


d
3


D
3

4
4


e
4


E
4

5
5


f
5


F
5

6
6


g
6


G
6

7
7


h
7


H
7

8
8


i
8


I
8

9
9


j
9


J
9		                                                     13th

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9		 1

A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A		 2

A
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
B
B		 3

A
B
B
B
A
B
B
A
A
B		 4

A
A
B
B
A
A
B
B
B
A		 5

A
B
A
B
B
A
A
A
B
B		 6

A
B
B
A
B
B
A
B
A
A

Below is a table giving showing our data using the parity value of the number 8.

Parity                                 Left Data                                                         Right Data                                          Check Digit

Data String 0 0 3 7 7 3 5 0 0 0 0 7
Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Parity Set A B A B B A C C C C C C
Result 0 a 3 h h 3 F A A A A A

 

How do I put it all together?

Simple, we have our final encoded data, now all we need to do is to add our additional control characters.

Result taken from above 0 a 3 h h 3 F A A A A H

Start & Stop Characters is ( or ASCII code 40 Center Bar Character is - or ASCII code 45

Our Final Barcode looks like this (0a3hh3-FAAAAH(

To add the digit at the front simply take the first digit from original data, which is "8". Use the characters from Q-Z for number 0-9, so 8 is Y. To add the ">" symbol add the ">" to the end of the encoded text to give you Y(0a3hh3-FAAAAH(>

Barcode Font Example

ean13.gif (2703 bytes)

Home | Contact | About Us | Price List | News | Support | Shopping
All Trademarks Are The Property Of Their Respective Owners - updated 06 July 2004
Want to resell Fontware products?  Click here to register your interest