How to use

EAN-13 has 3 symbol sets A, B, and C. It looks like the following: *XXXXXX#CCCCCC*

• * start/end bar (as common for Code 39)
• # middle bar
• X a symbol of set A or B (see below)
• C a symbol of set C

Symbol sets

The symbol sets are placed on an international keyboard layout:

1. Number row: 1234567890
2. Middle character row: asdfghjkl;
3. Top character row: qwertyuiop

The first digit of an EAN-13 barcode does not directly correspond to a symbol. It determines which symbol set for the following 6 digits is to be used. The following listing shows the symbol set combinations for the starting digits:

1. AABABB
2. AABBAB
3. AABBBA
4. ABAABB
5. ABBAAB
6. ABBBAA
7. ABABAB
8. ABABBA
9. ABBABA

If the starting digit is 0, or if you want to encode a UPC-A, only use symbol set A.

Examples

The spaces are only inserted for clarity.

• EAN number → symbol set → What you type with the font
• 2 012345 67890 3 → *AABBAB#CCCCCC* → *01sd4g#yuiope*
• 2 230154 67890 1 → *AABBAB#CCCCCC* → *23;a5f#yuiopq*
• 9 786789 12345 1 → *ABBABA#CCCCCC* → *7kh7k9#qwertq*
• 9 789876 12345 7 → *ABBABA#CCCCCC* → *7kl8j6#qwertu*

The above examples contain all symbols, try them.

Standard

For detailed technical information download the GS1 General Specifications.

If you need other barcode fonts, just check my other FontStructions

This is a true barcode font, it actually works with most (if not all) readers (mobile and handheld scanners).

All characters are included. Use * as start/stop character.

Please leave a comment, how you used the font. It would be interesting to see whether there is demand.

Trivia: Although it is correct that 3 of the 9 stripes are wide, the name of the symbology is not called Code 3 of 9. In the original design 39 characters were possible to encode.