page_title: International Article Number
section_title: Barcode structure
hierarchical_section_title: International Article Number / Binary encoding of data digits into EAN-13 barcode / Barcode structure
caption_attribution_description: whole EAN-font, code R
context_page_description: The International Article Number is a standard describing a barcode symbology and numbering system used in global trade to identify a specific retail product type, in a specific packaging configuration, from a specific manufacturer. The standard has been subsumed in the Global Trade Item Number standard from the GS1 organization; the same numbers can be referred to as GTINs and can be encoded in other barcode symbologies defined by GS1. EAN barcodes are used worldwide for lookup at retail point of sale, but can also be used as numbers for other purposes such as wholesale ordering or accounting. These barcodes only represent the digits 0–9, unlike some other barcode symbologies which can represent additional characters.
  The most commonly used EAN standard is the thirteen-digit EAN-13, a superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code standard developed in 1970 by George J. Laurer. An EAN-13 number includes a 3-digit GS1 prefix. A prefix with a first digit of "0" indicates a 12-digit UPC-A code follows. A prefix with first two digits of "45" or "49" indicates a Japanese Article Number follows.
context_section_description: The barcode consists of 95 areas (also called modules) of equal width.  Each area can be either white (represented here as 0) or black (represented as 1).  From left to right:
  3 areas for the start marker (101)
  42 areas (seven per digit) to encode digits 2-7, and to encode digit 1 indirectly, as described in the following section
  5 areas for the center marker (01010)
  42 areas (seven per digit) to encode digits 8-13
  3 areas for the end marker (101)
caption: Encoding R-digits
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