EAN-13 Specifications

The following provides a guideline for the size you should print the barcode on your product. This is very important if you need barcode verification. It is also a good guide for making sure that your barcode will scan correctly. If possible you should keep your barcode sizes within these standards. If you do go outside these standards, your barcodes may not be accepted by all retailers.

Magnification

The specified magnification range for an EAN-13 Bar Code Symbol being scanned at retail point of sale is 80% – 200% (X-dimension 0.26mm-0.66mm).

An acceptable minimum magnification of 75% (X-dimension 0.25mm) is applicable only to on demand (e.g. thermal) print processes. In this case, the bar height should never be truncated below the minimum required height for an 80% magnification barcode symbol.

Where an item may also be scanned in a General Distribution Scanning environment (automated scanning), the allowable magnification range is 150% to 200% (X-dimension 0.50mm – 0.66mm).

 

Human Readable Interpretation

The Human Readable Interpretation should be printed beneath the bar code symbol.

The recommended typeface for the Human Readable Interpretation is OCR-B at a height of 2.75mm at nominal size (100% magnification, X-dimension 0.33mm). This typeface is a recommendation only and alternative type fonts and character sizes are acceptable provided the digits are clearly legible.

Dimensions (All measurements in millimetres)

Magnification	X-dimension	Width	Bar height	Left Quiet Zone	Right Quiet Zone
0.80	0.26	25.08	18.28	2.90	1.85
0.85	0.28	26.65	19.42	3.09	1.96
0.90	0.30	28.22	20.57	3.27	2.08
0.95	0.31	29.78	21.71	3.45	2.19
1.00	0.33	31.35	22.85	3.63	2.31
1.05	0.35	32.92	23.99	3.81	2.43
1.10	0.36	34.49	25.14	3.99	2.54
1.15	0.38	36.05	26.28	4.17	2.66
1.20	0.40	37.62	27.42	4.36	2.77
1.25	0.41	39.19	28.56	4.54	2.89
1.30	0.43	40.76	29.71	4.72	3.00
1.35	0.45	42.32	30.85	4.90	3.12
1.40	0.46	43.89	31.99	5.08	3.23
1.45	0.48	45.46	33.13	5.26	3.35
1.50	0.50	47.03	34.28	5.45	3.47
1.55	0.51	48.59	35.42	5.63	3.58
1.60	0.53	50.16	36.56	5.81	3.70
1.65	0.54	51.73	37.70	5.99	3.81
1.70	0.56	53.30	38.85	6.17	3.93
1.75	0.58	54.86	39.99	6.35	4.04
1.80	0.59	56.43	41.13	6.53	4.16
1.85	0.61	58.00	42.27	6.72	4.27
1.90	0.63	59.57	43.42	6.90	4.39
1.95	0.64	61.13	44.56	7.08	4.50
2.00	0.66	62.70	45.70	7.26	4.62

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terms:

– Bar Width = width of barcode symbol excluding Quiet Zones

– Bar Height = height of bar excluding guard bar patterns

– Quiet Zone = Area of white space on either side of the bars

It is a good idea to allow for more quiet zone space than is strictly required in case of ink spread or printing inaccuracies

 

If you need to arrange barcode verification, this can be purchased here.

 

Look here for CD barcodes, DVD barcodes, ISBN book barcodes and ISSN magazine barcodes.