H-1
Appendix H
UPC / EAN Specifications
UPC symbols are found on almost all grocery
products and many other retail items. The
UPC code most people are familiar with
(UPC-A) is a fixed-length (12 digits) numeric
only code, with the first digit controlled by
UPC coding assignments and the last digit a
checksum. UPC-E and UPC-E1 are variations
of the standard UPC-A code. Each digit is constructed of two bars and two
spaces. UPC has very precise standards of code size, structure, and numbers
to be used.
EAN is an international superset of UPC. EAN-
13 has 13 digits, with the first two digits
representing a country code. The final digit is, as
with UPC, a check digit. EAN-8 is a shorter
version on the EAN-13 code containing seven
data digits and ending again with a checksum.
The exact UPC/EAN symbol specifications are available from:
Uniform Code Council, Inc.
7887 Washington Village Drive, Suite 300
Dayton, OH 45459
937-435-3870
Specifications are also available via the internet at:
http://www.uc-council.org
Keep the following guidelines in mind when printing UPC bar codes:
•
If you plan to use a "supermarket-type" in-counter scanner
to read the codes, specify a bar code height of at least .9"
for an optimal first read rate.
•
Make it an early practice to observe the numbering
conventions of the UPC Council. Do not label unmarked
merchandise with a bar code whose numbers may conflict
with those already assigned. If products with these
numbers are not in your store now, they are likely to be in
the future, causing conflicts in your inventory system.
