EAN-13 Barcode Generator
EAN-13 barcodes with the check digit calculated — and verified if you have one.
Result
PASSEAN-13 ready to print
Each module prints at 0.319 mm, comfortably inside what a scanner reads. The bars are drawn as vector shapes, so they print at your printer's own resolution rather than being resampled from a bitmap — which is what keeps the module widths exact. Leave the white space either side of the bars clear: a border or a price sticker touching the quiet zone is the most common reason a correctly generated barcode will not scan.
- Encodes
- 5901234123457
- Symbology
- EAN-13
- Check digitCalculated, and verified if you supplied one
- 7
- Width in modulesIncluding a 11-module quiet zone each side
- 117
- Printed module widthBelow 0.19 mm, scanners and ordinary printers start to fail
- 0.319 mm
What this cannot tell you
- Generated in your browser. The number you encode is never uploaded.
- Bars are drawn as vector shapes and printed at your printer's own resolution. A barcode saved as a bitmap and scaled on the way to paper is the commonest reason a correctly generated code will not scan.
- Encodes the number you give it. It cannot tell you whether the number is registered to you — EAN prefixes are allocated by GS1, and a barcode encoding a number allocated to someone else scans perfectly and identifies their product.
- The nominal EAN-13 size is 37.29 mm wide, and the standard permits 80% to 200% of that. Below 80% the specification stops guaranteeing a read, and the tool says when you are there.
Take this with you
How this test page works
Enter twelve digits and the check digit is calculated; enter thirteen and it is verified rather than trusted. The encoding has a detail that catches generators out: the first digit is never drawn as bars at all. It is carried in the *parity pattern* of the six left-hand digits, which is how a thirteen-digit number fits in the same width as a twelve-digit UPC — and a generator that draws it as a symbol produces a barcode that scans as a different number entirely, invisibly.
What the results mean
- Check digit
- Calculated with alternating weights of 1 and 3. Supplying a wrong one is rejected here rather than encoded.
- The first digit
- Encoded in the parity of the left-hand half rather than as bars. This is the part of EAN-13 that most people never notice.
- Module width
- At the nominal 37.29 mm, a module is 0.33 mm. The standard allows down to 80% of nominal, and below that reads become unreliable.
- Quiet zone
- Eleven modules on the left and seven on the right. Retail scanners are unforgiving about this.
Common problems and fixes
- It says my check digit is wrong
- Then the number as printed elsewhere is wrong, or a digit was mistyped. The tool refuses to encode a mismatched check digit because such a barcode cannot be scanned.
- The retailer rejected our barcode
- Usually the number rather than the printing: retailers require a GS1-allocated prefix, and a made-up or borrowed number is rejected at onboarding.
- The barcode is too small on our packaging
- Below 80% of the nominal 37.29 mm the standard no longer guarantees a read. If space is that tight, the shorter EAN-8 exists and is allocated separately.
Frequently asked questions
How is the EAN-13 check digit calculated?
Take the first twelve digits, multiply alternate digits by 1 and 3 starting with 1, add the results, and the check digit is whatever brings that total up to the next multiple of ten. Reversing which positions get the 3 produces a plausible wrong answer, which is why this is calculated rather than copied.
Can I make up my own EAN-13 number?
You can encode any thirteen digits, and it will scan. Whether anyone accepts it is a different question: retail barcode numbers are allocated by GS1 in blocks, and a number outside your allocation belongs to someone else's product. For internal use that does not matter; for anything sold in a shop it does.
What size should an EAN-13 barcode be printed?
The nominal size is 37.29 mm wide by 25.93 mm tall, and the standard permits between 80% and 200% of that. At 80% a module is about 0.26 mm, which is around the practical limit for ordinary printing.