EAN-13 Barcode Generator — Free
Generate EAN-13 barcodes for retail product labelling. The global standard for supermarket and retail POS scanning. Vector output — print at any size without blur.
EAN-13 — Technical Specification
Where EAN-13 Is Used
Retail product labelling (Europe & worldwide)
Every product sold through supermarkets and retail stores in Europe must have an EAN-13 barcode for POS scanning.
Grocery and food products
Supermarket products require EAN-13 for checkout and stock management.
Books — ISBN barcode
Book barcodes use EAN-13 encoding of the ISBN-13 number.
GS1 registered products
Companies registered with GS1 use their company prefix to generate valid EAN-13 codes.
Library systems
Some library systems use EAN-13 alongside or instead of Code 128 for materials tracking.
When to Use EAN-13
- ✓ You're selling a physical product through European or international retail
- ✓ Your product needs to be scanned at a supermarket checkout
- ✓ You have a GS1 company prefix and need to generate product barcodes
- ✓ You're printing book barcodes from an ISBN-13
When NOT to Use EAN-13
- ✗ Internal inventory tracking — Code 128 or QR is more flexible
- ✗ Storing text, URLs, or alphanumeric data — EAN-13 is numeric only
- ✗ US retail — use UPC-A (though most US scanners now also read EAN-13)
- ✗ Amazon FBA product labels — those use Code 128 (FNSKU)
Generate a EAN-13 barcode now
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