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NOTE: To create proper UPC and EAN barcode types, the characters printed must be selected from the tables defined in the Implementation Guidelines. To provide for easy integration into applications, IDAutomation provides several Font Tools that are free to use with IDAutomation fonts. The font tools automatically format the characters to the barcode font. When it is only necessary to create a single barcode, IDAutomation recommends using the Online Font Encoder.
Demo Version Notice:
The sample fonts provided in the demo version may be used for
evaluation purposes only. The only restriction in the demo version is a
watermark at the top of the seven digit. To ensure scanning errors do
not occur, direct the scanner to the middle or lower portion of the
symbol. The watermark will not appear in the
licensed version. All sample fonts include the letter "S" in the
name to differentiate them from the
licensed version.
INDEX:
Symbology Overview |
IDAutomation's UPC/EAN Font Advantage Package is an advanced font product with tools, macros and source code that uses a single font file to create UCC-12, UPCA, UPCE, EAN8, EAN13, JAN, ISBN and Bookland barcodes. The fonts meet ANSI, ISO and IEC 2000 specifications (ISO 15420:2000).
To create proper UPC and EAN barcode types, the characters printed must be selected from the tables defined in the UPC/EAN font data sheet. To provide for easy integration into applications, IDAutomation provides several Font Tools that are free to use with this product. The font tools automatically format the characters to the barcode font. When it is only necessary to create a single barcode, IDAutomation recommends using the Online Font Encoder. If the Font Tools cannot be utilized and if the UPC/EAN font data sheet causes confusion, consider using IDAutomation’s Barcode Components, Image Generators or the Barcode Label Software.
UPC, UCC, EAN, JAN, ISBN, Bookland, GTIN-8, GTIN-12 and GTIN-13 barcodes may all be created from IDAutomation's UPC/EAN Font Advantage Package with the exception of EAN-14, UCC-128 and EAN-128; these are created with the Code 128 Barcode Fonts. The primary purpose for these barcodes is to uniquely identify a product and manufacturer for retail checkout and tracking purposes.
Below is a brief summary of the various UPC/EAN related barcode standards:
Package Features |
The UPC / EAN font characters are all contained in a single font represented in several different heights. IDAutomation's UPC / EAN barcode fonts were created according to the latest GS1, UCC, EAN and ISO/IEC 15420 standards so that the nominal size is achieved when printed at 16 points (or 18 points for 203 DPI printers). Because the standards allow a magnification factor of .8 to 2.0, the fonts may be printed as small as 12 points and as large as 32 points. For best results, the UPC / EAN barcode fonts should be printed at the largest point size and height possible in this range. When using a printer with less than 600 DPI, only certain font sizes may be used as defined in the specifications.
Fonts with "S" in the name are "shortened height" fonts that are below what the UCC recommends. However, IDAutomation has observed these shorter symbols used with UPC-A and UPC-E barcodes. Fonts with "M" in the name are medium height fonts and are recommended for printing EAN-8 and UPC-E barcodes. Fonts with "L" in the name are the largest with a height of approximately 22mm when printed at 16 points and are recommended for printing UPC-A and EAN-13 barcodes.
IDAutomation recommends a quiet zone which is about 3 times the thickest bar in the barcode or about 12 times the X dimension. The minimum quiet zones according to ISO specifications are as follows:
Barcode Type | Left Quiet Zone | Right Quiet Zone |
EAN-8 | 11X | 7X |
EAN-13 | 7X | 7X |
UPC-A | 9X | 9X |
UPC-E | 9X | 7X |
Add-on | na | 5X |
Quiet zones are automatically set with the correct spacing when using IDAutomation's Font Tools, including the Online Font Encoder. To maintain the quiet zones during graphic design, where images may overlap the symbol generated, the greater-than and less-than symbols may be used if necessary as defined in Figure 1-4.
To be fully GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) compliant, all UPC and EAN numbers should be stored in databases as 14 digit numbers and filled in with zeros for the spaces to the left. For example, a UPC-A barcode of 123456789012 would be represented as 00123456789012 in the database of a GTIN compliant system. When encoding complete GTIN-14 numbers, GS1 DataBar should be used.
Barcode Type | GTIN Type | GTIN Storage |
EAN-8 | GTIN-8 | 000000???????? |
EAN-13 | GTIN-13 | 0????????????? |
UPC-A | GTIN-12 | 00???????????? |
UPC-E | Some GTIN-12 | 00???????????? |
DataBar | GTIN-14 | ?????????????? |
Fonts that exclude the normal human readable characters are provided in this package to support the printing of the human readable variation according to ISO/IEC 15420 2000 Figure E.3. With this type of implementation, digit "N" located at character "Z" may be used with the font names ending with the letter "n". Additionally, a separate custom field must be placed below the symbol according to the specification. The human readable variation should only be used when it is required. These fonts are provided in the HRVariation folder of the product package.
Printing and Character Mapping |
All symbols of the UPC and EAN barcode symbology have been mapped to the standard PC keyboard. This layout is presented in Figures 1-1 through 1-5. The following barcodes should be generated as follows, reading from left to right:
Below is a sample of the UPC-A barcode encoding the number 20348934382 with a
check digit of 2, created with IDAutomation's
Online Font Encoder. To create
this barcode, paste the text string of W(c03489*NONSMm(W
into a word processor and choose the UPC/EAN font.
Variable Parity in EAN13:
In EAN-13, the leading digit is encoded into the left half of the EAN-13 symbol by using variable parity between character sets A and B according to the following VB source code:
Select Case LeadingDigit Case 0 Encoding = "AAAAAACCCCCC" Case 1 Encoding = "AABABBCCCCCC" Case 2 Encoding = "AABBABCCCCCC" Case 3 Encoding = "AABBBACCCCCC" Case 4 Encoding = "ABAABBCCCCCC" Case 5 Encoding = "ABBAABCCCCCC" Case 6 Encoding = "ABBBAACCCCCC" Case 7 Encoding = "ABABABCCCCCC" Case 8 Encoding = "ABABBACCCCCC" Case 9 Encoding = "ABBABACCCCCC" End Select
EAN-14 is a different barcode type created with ITF or Code 128.
Figures 1-1 through 1-5:
Digit Value |
Letter to type for Character Set A |
Letter to type for Character Set B (ASCII + 17) |
Letter to type for Character Set C (ASCII + 27) |
0 | 0 | A | K |
1 | 1 | B | L |
2 | 2 | C | M |
3 | 3 | D | N |
4 | 4 | E | O |
5 | 5 | F | P |
6 | 6 | G | Q |
7 | 7 | H | R |
8 | 8 | I | S |
9 | 9 | J | T |
Figure 1-1: UPC / EAN barcodes with human readable characters. These are the primary barcodes with the number representing the symbol printed at the bottom.
Digit Value |
Letter to type for |
Letter to type for |
0 | a | k |
1 | b | l |
2 | c | m |
3 | d | n |
4 | e | o |
5 | f | p |
6 | g | q |
7 | h | r |
8 | i | s |
9 | j | t |
Figure 1-2: UPC / EAN barcodes without human readable characters below. Used for far left and far right digits of UPC-A symbols and other barcodes as required.
Digit Value | Letter
to type to print numbers only |
(ASCII + 37) / (ASCII + 64) |
0 | U | 85 |
1 | V | 86 |
2 | W | 87 |
3 | X | 88 |
4 | Y | 89 |
5 | u | 117 |
6 | v | 118 |
7 | w | 119 |
8 | x | 120 |
9 | y | 121 |
N | Z | |
Greater symbol | > | |
Dash "-" | - | |
Less symbol | < | |
Add-on Greater | ' |
Figure 1-3: UPC / EAN numbers and characters without barcodes. These are used as required for human interpretation but are not printed as a barcode. Digit value "N" located at character "Z" is to be used with the human readable variation implementation.
Guard Patterns | Letter to Type |
Normal guard pattern | ( |
Center pattern | * |
Special guard pattern | ) |
Add-on guard pattern | + |
Add-on delineator | ! |
7X (add-on space) | Space |
2X (add-on space) | ` (ASCII 96) |
3X (add-on space) | ^ (ASCII 94) |
4X (add-on space) | | (ASCII 124) |
Quiet zone indicator | > |
Quiet zone indicator | < |
Quiet zone indicator for add-on | ' (ASCII 39) |
Lower hyphen | - (ASCII 45) |
Upper hyphen | ~ (ASCII 126) |
Figure 1-4: UPC / EAN guard patterns and special characters.
Digit Value | Letter to type for Character Set A |
ASCII | Letter to type for Character Set B |
ASCII |
0 | " | 34 | z | 122 |
1 | # | 35 | = | 61 |
2 | $ | 36 | ? | 63 |
3 | % | 37 | @ | 64 |
4 | & | 38 | [ | 91 |
5 | , | 44 | \ | 92 |
6 | . | 46 | ] | 93 |
7 | / | 47 | _ | 95 |
8 | : | 58 | { | 123 |
9 | ; | 59 | } | 125 |
Figure 1-5: Add-on UPC / EAN barcodes with human readable characters. These barcodes can be used for ISSN, ISBN bookland and others that require an add-on barcode. The human readable character is printed above the barcode.
X dimension and Magnification Factor:
The X dimension (X is the width of the narrow bar) is listed below for various
point sizes in millimeters and mils. 1 mil is equal to 1/1000 of an inch.
Point Size |
X Dimension |
Magnification Factor |
203 DPI* | 300 DPI* | |
36 | .75 mm | 30 mil | 2.20 | Y | Y |
32 | .66 mm | 27 mil | 2.00 | Y | |
30 | .62 mm | 25 mil | 1.88 | Y | |
28 | .57 mm | 23 mil | 1.75 | Y | |
24 | .49 mm | 20 mil | 1.50 | Y | Y |
20 | .44 mm | 17 mil | 1.35 | Y | |
18 | .38 mm | 15 mil | 1.18 | Y | |
16 | .33 mm | 13 mil | 1.00 | Y | |
12 | .25 mm | 10 mil | 0.80 | Y | Y |
* When using a printer with less than 600 DPI, print at the following point sizes to create accurate barcodes:
203 DPI Printer (thermal printer) | 300 DPI Printer |
12, 18, 24, 30, 36 | 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 |
Symbol Height:
Five (5) different versions of the UPCEAN barcode fonts are provided to support
different height requirements. The last character in the UPCEAN barcode font name
determines the height of the barcode with the shortest being "XXS" and the
tallest being "L". Five additional fonts are provided for the
human readable variation implementation
and can be identified by the unique ending character of "n".
Font name of purchased version | Font name of eval version | Font height at 16 points* |
IDAutomationUPCEANXXS | IDAutomationSUPCEANXXS | 0.20" / 5 mm |
IDAutomationUPCEANXS | IDAutomationSUPCEANXS | 0.40" / 10 mm |
IDAutomationUPCEANS | IDAutomationSUPCEANS | 0.55" / 14 mm |
IDAutomationUPCEANM | IDAutomationSUPCEANM | 0.71" / 18 mm |
IDAutomationUPCEANL | IDAutomationSUPCEANL | 0.87" / 22 mm |
* Measurements are approximate and were
measured when printed at 16 points which is the recommended print size.
However, a magnification factor of .8 to 2.0 can be used which allows
printing at 12 to 32 points. Measurements do not include the text below
symbol or the guard bars. To print at a different height, find the
font that has the height closest to what is needed and use this formula
to find the point size to print the font at: |
GTIN, UCC or EAN company numbers should be obtained before barcoding is started. These company numbers allow a company to build ID numbers that uniquely identify items. Information about this may be obtained at the GS1 Website.
To obtain more information about JAN barcodes, visit the Japanese Standards Association website.
More information about ISBN and Bookland is provided at the IDAutomation ISBN and Bookland Tutorial and the ISBN website.
Other Barcode Software Products |
IDAutomation has many other products to offer for barcoding purposes including:
|
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