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PDFill PDF Barcode Generator: 8. EAN/UPC Barcode

(See Example PDF and Example PDFill Project File  )

An EAN-13 barcode (originally European Article Number, but now renamed International Article Number even though the abbreviation EAN has been retained) is a 13 digit (12 data and 1 check) barcoding standard which is a superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC) system developed in 1970 by George J. Laurer.^[1] The EAN-13 barcode is defined by the standards organization GS1.

An EAN-8 is a barcode and is derived from the longer European Article Number (EAN-13) code. It was introduced for use on small packages where an EAN-13 barcode would be too large; for example on cigarettes, pencils (though it is rarely used for pencils), and chewing gum packets. It is encoded identically to the 12 digits of the UPC-A barcode, except that it has 4 (rather than 6) digits in each of the left and right halves.

The Universal Product Code (UPC) is a barcode symbology (i.e., a specific type of barcode) that is widely used in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and in other countries for tracking trade items in stores.  The most common form, UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item. Along with the related EAN barcode, the UPC is the barcode mainly used for scanning of trade items at the point of sale, per GS1 specifications.^[1] UPC data structures are a component of GTINs (Global Trade Item Numbers). All of these data structures follow the global GS1 specification which is based on international standards. Some retailers (clothing, furniture) do not use the GS1 System (other bar code symbologies, other article number systems). Other retailers use the EAN/UPC bar code symbology but without using a GTIN (for products brands sold at such retailers only).

1.  Steps on how to insert a EAN/UPC into PDF Page:

• Choose Menu Insert > Select PDF Barcode > EAN/UPC

• Hold Left mouse button to create an area of the required size and then release it

2. Access the properties:

• Click the Selection button first.
• Click inside the line to highlight it and click Properties Button
• Or, click the line and double-click again
• Or, Key F4

3. Set the properties:

Here is the list of the properties.

String	The text to be encoded. Only Digital Number 0-9 can be used.
Barcode Color	The color of the bars
Text Color	The color of the text
Position (Left, Right, Width, Height)	The X and Y coordinate of the box to define the position and size of the barcode.
Scale	The ratio of the displayed barcode to the actual barcode
Background Color	The color of the background
Rotate	The rotation degree from 3 clock relative to the barcode center
Margin (Horizontal/Vertical)	The distance from the barcode to the border of the background
Main Option	DOS Command	Default	Sub Option
EAN Code Type	-codeType	0	EAN13(0), EAN8(1), UPCA(2), UPCE(3), SUPP2(4), SUPP5 (5)
Show Guard Bars	-guardBars	1	FALSE (0) and TRUE (1)
Text Font Size	-fontSize	8.0
Text Base Line Distance	-baseline	8.0
Bar Height	-barHeight	24.0
Minimum Bar Width	-X	0.8
Text Over the Bar	-textOverbar	0	FALSE (0) and TRUE (1)
Font Name	-fontName	Times New Roman
Font Style	-fontStyle	0	regular(0), bold(1), italic(2), bold and italics(3)
Reset	Reset all the Sub Options to the default values
Action: Add Link, Submit, JavaScript and more ...	See PDF Actions.
Get Barcode Image	Save the barcode image as a PNG file after clicking OK.

4. Example:

5. Screenshot:

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