EAN stands for "European Article Number," a 13-digit barcode symbology that is designed by the International Article Numbering Association (EAN) in Europe. It is an extension to the UPCA barcode. The only difference between UPCA and EAN13 barcodes is that UPCA uses a single-digit number system from 0 to 9, whereas EAN13 uses two digits from 00 to 99, which is essentially a country code.
EAN13 is a 1D barcode symbology that encodes 12 digits of numeric data and a trailing check digit of data (13 digits). EAN13 barcode is useful for marking products that are sold in retail POS because the EAN13 code is a superset of the UPCA barcode. Any hardware or software that can read the EAN13 symbol can also read the UPCA barcode.
The EAN code number system digit is printed to the left of the barcode, and the check digit is printed to the right of the EAN code. The manufacturer and item codes are printed below the barcodes and separated by a guard bar. Its barcodes encode 13 characters; the first two or three digits represent the country code, which identifies the particular country. The country code is followed by 9 or 10 data digits, which usually depend upon the length of the country code.
Application Area: EAN-13 barcodes are widely used to identify products at retail points of sale around the world.
EAN13 Barcode Font digits Specification
EAN-13 is a linear barcode font that consist of 13 digits:
- Use 2 digits for the country code or system code
- Use 5 digits for the society identification or producer
- 5-digits for the product identification
- 1 digit for the checksum
EAN13 Barcode Font Sample designed using DRPU Barcode Maker Software.
Advantages of EAN13
EAN-13 was timely in the 1970s, as the world was on the brink of globalization and the retail industry was growing and that allowed for safety, reliability, speed, and efficiency in supply chains. Other advantages of EAN-13 were:
- It is a very high-density barcode that can encode a lot of data in a small space.
- The barcode is simple to read, and even a scanner at an acute angle of 45 degrees to the surface of the barcode can easily decode the information.
- The scanner is very portable because it is widely used in Europe, and no advanced scanning devices are required to decode the information.
- EAN-13 Much suited to fast-moving products on automatic machines.
- The checksum digit served as a self-validation mechanism.
Limitations of EAN13
Traceability was a key factor in the design of the EAN-13 barcode. However, the barcode system is not without its drawbacks. Because of this, the EAN-13 barcode might have more potential uses because it cannot be applied to identifying complex items.
- EAN-13 can encode only numeric data, not alphabets and special characters.
- EAN-13 like other linear barcodes has a very low tolerance for damage and distortion and thus cannot be scanned in this condition.
The specific components in the EAN design ensured that the purpose of EAN-13 was met and that it was transformed into a bar code that could be easily and quickly encoded and decoded. It has become an international standard globally and has added several countries to its roost since it was established.