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EAN AustraliaUser Manual

Symbology and Printing

Copyright, July 2004by EAN Australia LtdUnit 100, 45 Gilby RoadMt Waverley Victoria 3149Australia

Tel: 61 3 9558 9559Fax: 61 3 9558 9551

National number:1300 366 033

www.ean.com.auEmail: [email protected]

Edition 1, 2004


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Version 1, 2004 EAN Australia User Manual - Symbology and Printing i

Table of Contents

Introduction

Symbology Operational Bands .............................................................................2

Disclaimer .............................................................................................................3

Symbology details

EAN/UPC symbology ............................................................................................5

EAN-13 bar code format .......................................................................................6Variable parity encoding of the 13th digit ........................................................7

Symbol character representation of human readable digits for EAN-13 and

EAN-8 ...................................................................................................................8EAN/UPC auxiliary symbol characters ..........................................................12

EAN-13 bar code dimensions in nominal size ....................................................13

Overall EAN-13 dimensions ..........................................................................13EAN-13 bar code height ................................................................................13EAN-13 light margin areas ............................................................................13EAN/UPC symbol character dimensionsNominal size ...............................14Total EAN/UPC bar code width in modules. ..................................................14Measuring symbol characters .......................................................................14Magnification factor .......................................................................................15Human readable digits ..................................................................................16

EAN-8 bar code format .......................................................................................16

EAN-8 bar code dimensions in nominal size ......................................................18

Overall EAN-8 dimensions ............................................................................ 18EAN-8 bar code height ..................................................................................18EAN-8 light margin areas ..............................................................................18Human readable digits ..................................................................................19

ITF-14 symbology (Interleaved Two of Five) ......................................................19Introduction ....................................................................................................19

ITF-14 bar code format .......................................................................................20

Symbol character representation of human readable digits for ITF-14 ...............21How to compose an ITF bar code .................................................................22ITF-14 auxiliary symbol characters ...............................................................23

ITF-14 bar code dimensions in nominal size ......................................................23Overall ITF-14 dimensions ............................................................................ 23Formula for calculating the ITF bar code width using nominal dimensions ...24ITF-14 bar code height ..................................................................................24ITF-14 bearer bar ..........................................................................................25H marks .........................................................................................................25ITF light margin areas at nominal size ..........................................................26Magnification factors .....................................................................................26Human readable interpretation ......................................................................27ITF-14 symbol character dimensionsnominal size .....................................27

UCC/EAN-128 symbology ..................................................................................28Introduction ....................................................................................................28

UCC/EAN-128 bar code format ..........................................................................30


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Symbol character representation of human readable characters for

UCC/EAN-128 ....................................................................................................30Character sets ...............................................................................................30Auxiliary characters ....................................................................................... 30UCC/EAN-128 double start character ...........................................................33

Codes A, B, and C ........................................................................................33The use of start, shift, and code characters ..................................................33Shift character ...............................................................................................34Symbol check character ................................................................................35

UCC/EAN-128 bar code dimensionsnominal size ..........................................36Overall UCC/EAN-128 dimensions ............................................................... 36UCC/EAN-128 bar code height .....................................................................36UCC/EAN-128 light margin areas .................................................................37UCC/EAN-128 bar code dimensions for numeric data ..................................37UCC/EAN-128 symbol character dimensionsnominal size ........................37

UCC/EAN-128 bar code width in modules ................................................... 38Human readable characters ..........................................................................39Concatenation ...............................................................................................39

UCC/EAN-128 system considerations and processing software ........................40UCC/EAN-128 field length indicators ............................................................41User application AIs ..................................................................................... 42Scanner/decoder ...........................................................................................42Symbol input processing ...............................................................................43Transmitted data ...........................................................................................44Symbology identifiers ....................................................................................44

RSS & Composite Bar Codes .............................................................................46

Introduction ...................................................................................................46Reduced Space Symbology ............................................................................... 50

Introduction ...................................................................................................50Symbology Characteristics ............................................................................51Additional Features .......................................................................................52RSS 14 Versions ...........................................................................................52RSS-14 ..........................................................................................................53RSS-14 Truncated ........................................................................................53RSS-14 Stacked ............................................................................................53RSS-14 Stacked Omni-directional ................................................................54

RSS Limited ..................................................................................................54RSS Expanded Versions ...............................................................................55RSS Expanded ..............................................................................................56RSS Expanded Stacked ................................................................................56Compressed Element String Sequences ...................................................... 57Fixed-Length Sequences ..............................................................................57Open-Ended Sequences ...............................................................................58Human Readable Interpretation in RSS Symbols ......................................... 58Data Transmission and Symbology Identifier Prefixes .................................. 59Width of a Module (X-dimension) ..................................................................60Print Quality Grade ........................................................................................60

Advice for Selecting the Symbology .............................................................. 60


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Version 1, 2004 EAN Australia User Manual - Symbology and Printing iii

EANUCC Composite Symbology ....................................................................62Introduction ....................................................................................................62EANUCC Composite Symbology Characteristics ......................................62Symbol Structure ...........................................................................................64CC-A Structure ..............................................................................................65

CC-B Structure ..............................................................................................67CC-C Structure ..............................................................................................69Special Compressed Element String Sequences ..........................................70Human Readable Interpretation in Composite Symbols ...............................71Data Transmission and Symbology Identifier Prefixes ..................................72Width of a Module (X) ....................................................................................73Print Quality ...................................................................................................73Advice for Selecting the Symbology .............................................................. 74

Printing and production

Introduction .........................................................................................................77

General printing and production information .......................................................78Different ways to print a bar code ..................................................................78Production processes for source marked bar codes .....................................78

Print gain and variation .......................................................................................79Assessing print gain and variation .................................................................80

Print quality checks .............................................................................................80

Colours, contrast, and reflectance ......................................................................81Reflectance factor and reflection density ......................................................81Contrast .........................................................................................................83Colour ............................................................................................................85Show through ................................................................................................85Transparent wrapper .....................................................................................85Specularly reflecting materials ......................................................................86Obscuring patterns ........................................................................................86

Special production features of the EAN-13 and EAN-8 bar codes .....................88Basic assessment method for determining the print gain and variation ........88EAN/UPC magnification factor ......................................................................88EAN/UPC bar code size ................................................................................89EAN/UPC film master tolerances .................................................................. 91EAN/UPC bar width reduction .......................................................................91

EAN/UPC printability gauge assessment method ..............................................92Evaluating EAN/UPC printability gauge results .............................................93

On-site production of EAN/UPC bar codes .........................................................95

Special production features of the ITF bar code .................................................97Basic assessment method for determining the print gain and variation ........97ITF-14 magnification factor ............................................................................97ITF bar width reductions ................................................................................98

ITF printability gauge assessment method .........................................................99Evaluating ITF printability gauge results .....................................................100Specification for the dimensions of the film master .....................................102

Printing H marks ..........................................................................................102Bearer bars ..................................................................................................103

On-site production of ITF bar codes ................................................................. 104


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Special production features of the UCC/EAN-128 bar code ............................. 105Basic assessment method for determining the print gain and variation ...... 105UCC/EAN-128 magnification factor .............................................................105UCC/EAN-128 bar width reduction ............................................................. 108

UCC/EAN-128 printability gauge assessment method ..................................... 108

Evaluating UCC/EAN-128 printability gauge results ................................... 109On-site production of UCC/EAN-128 bar codes .......................................... 110

Appendix 1

Thermal bar code label printers ........................................................................ 113Symbology design considerations for direct thermal and thermal transferprinters ........................................................................................................113General considerations for direct thermal printing ...................................... 114General considerations for thermal transfer consumable supplies ............. 114Initial direct thermal and thermal transfer printer set-up .............................. 114Maintaining Acceptable Quality ................................................................... 115General office printers ................................................................................. 117Bar code design considerations for general purpose printers ..................... 118Initial general-purpose printer set-up .......................................................... 119Maintaining acceptable quality ....................................................................119

Glossary ..........................................................................................................121

List of Figures ................................................................................................135

List of Tables..................................................................................................137


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Version 1, 2004 EAN Austral ia User Manual - Symbology and Printing 1

IntroductionThe EANUCC system uses the following bar code symbologies as thedata carriers:

TheEAN/UPC symbology is exclusively reserved for encoding

EANUCC Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs). EAN/UPC bar codes

must be used for all trade items which are scanned at the point of sale in

retail outlets and may be used on other non-retail trade items.

(EAN-8 bar codes are only used on very small retail trade items to

encode EAN/UCC-8 identification numbers.)

TheITF-14 symbology is exclusively used for encoding GTINs printed

on non-retail trade items not passing through the retail point of sale.

The ITF-14 bar code symbology is better suited for direct printing on to

corrugated fibreboard.

The UCC/EAN-128 symbology is a precise subset of the Code 128

symbology. Its use is exclusively licensed by EAN International (EAN)

and Uniform Code Council (UCC). This extremely flexible symbology

is used for the encoding GTINs as well as encoding attribute

information using EANUCCapplication identifiers. UCC/EAN-128

bar codes are used to represent Global Location Numbers (GLN),assets, services and logistics units.

Unit typeEAN-8

UPC-E

EAN-13

UPC-A

UCC/EAN-128 ITF-14

Retail items

Non-retail items(ie logistic units)

Global location

numbers

Assets

Table 1 Bar code options


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Symbology Operational Bands

Consideration for selecting the correct bar code specification is based on

where the bar code will actually be scanned, or the bar code operative

scanning environment. The four operative scanning environments for

EANUCC bar codes are;

Figure 1 Symbology Operational Bands

EAN/UPC retail

Retail markets were the first users of the EAN/UPC symbology. Bar codes

on all trade items processed in retail environment must conform to the

EAN/UPC symbology requirements. These are based on an

omni-directional scanning environment and associated ergonomic factors

in retail environments.

General Distribution

The general distribution operating environment includes trade items

packaged for transport, logistics units, assets, and location tags. It includes

their related attributes.

Both EAN/UPC Retail and General Distribution

These are trade items in specific packaging suitable for transport purposes

in general distribution, but that are also scanned in the EAN/UPC retail

environment.


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Introduction


All Others

This category includes trade items used in industries in both the supply and

demand sides of the supply chain (e.g. healthcare, paper, packaging,

electrical, communications, and information technology), assets, and

location tags.

Disclaimer

Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information and

specifications in this manual are correct, however EAN Australia expressly

disclaim liability for any errors. In addition, no warranty or representation

is made that this manual will not require modification due to developments

in technology or changes or additions to the EANUCC system.


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Introduction



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Symbology detailsEAN/UPC symbology

Common characteristics for EAN/UPC bar codes are:

an overall rectangular shape with a light margin on all sides

a series of light and dark parallel barsat right angles to an imaginary

base line or reference line light and dark bars formed from light or darkmodulesof uniform

width

each human readable digit is represented by seven light or dark

modules, collectively called asymbol character

a symbol character has two dark bars and twolight spaces

see Figure 2.

a dark bar can comprise one to four dark modules; a light space can

comprise one to four light modules

auxiliary symbol charactersin addition to the symbol characters

representing human readable digits. These comprise fewer modules and

are used as guard or centre bars for beginning, ending, and separation

they can be read omni-directionally by fixed position scanners and

bi-directionally by hand held scanners

the size is variable between limits in magnification, to accommodate

the ranges in quality achievable by the various printing processes

dimensions are specified for the nominal size

(100%, ie magnification = 1.0) X-dimension (single module width) of all EAN/UPC bar codes at

100% magnification is 0.33mm. X-dimensions (module widths) may

range between 0.264mm and 0.66mm (magnifications 80% to 200%).

For EAN/UPC bar codes which may be scanned in both retail and

general distribution environments, the X-dimension range should be

0.50mm to 0.66mm (magnification 150% to 200%).


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Figure 2 EAN/UPC symbol character

EAN-13 bar code format

EAN/UCC-13 identification numbers are represented by an EAN-13 bar

code. The format is: left light margin area

start guard bars

left halfsix digits from number sets A or B

centre guard bars

right halfsix digits from number set C

stop guard bars

right light margin area.

See Figure 3.

Figure 3 EAN-13 bar code format

The bar code itself comprises 12 symbol characters. The 13th human

readable digit is not represented by a symbol character.

The 13th digit is always the digit in the left most position of theEAN/UCC-13 identification number.

The remaining 12 digits in the number are represented by symbol

characters, in sequence from left to right.

7 modules

two dark bars two light bars

Startguard

Left halfcharacters:

Centreguard

Right halfcharacters:

Stopguard

six symbolcharacters from

six symbolcharacters from

bars

number setsA & B

bars

barsnumber set

C


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Variable parity encoding of the 13th digit

You encode the value of the 13th digit by permutation, using number sets

A and B for the six digits in the left half of the bar code. This is known as

using variable parity coding. For all possible permutations for the 13th

digit, see Table 2.

Australias country prefix is 93; therefore, the 13th digit for numbers using

this prefix is always9.

Using prefix 9 causes the left half of the bar code to have variableparity,

because it comprises a combination of number set A (odd parity) and

number set B (even parity) symbol characters.

Figure 4uses EAN/UCC-13 identification number 9312345678907 as an

example.

Figure 4 EAN-13 permutation for bar code digit posit ions

Number sets used for coding left half

of bar code

Value of 13th digit 12th

digit

11th

digit

10th

digit

9th

digit

8th

digit

7th

digit

0 A A A A A A

1 A A B A B B

2 A A B B A B

3 A A B B B A

4 A B A A B B

5 A B B A A B

6 A B B B A A

7 A B A B A B

8 A B A B B A

9 A B B A B A

Table 2 Coding system for the 13th digit

A B B A B A

Centre

C C C C C C

9 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 7

Check digit

guardStart Stop

guardguardbars bars bars


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Symbol character representation of humanreadable digits for EAN-13 and EAN-8

Each human readable digit in an EAN-13 and EAN-8 bar codes global

trade item number (GTIN) is represented by a combination of seven darkand light modules arranged in different number sets known as A, B, and C.

See Table 3on the following page for a list of all combinations of dark and

light modules for each human readable digit. The number sets in this table

are shown graphically in Figure 5.

Note that symbol characters representing digits in:

number set A have anoddnumber of dark modules (shown as 1s in

Table 3). These are called symbol characters withoddparity.

number sets B and C have an evennumber of dark modules. These are

called symbol characterswithevenparity.

number sets A and B always begin on the left with a light module

(shown as 0s in Table 3), and end on the right with a dark module.

number set C always begin on the left with a dark module and end on

the right with a light module.

The combinations of number sets derived from the 13th digit are used in

conjunction with Table 3to establish the representation of human readable

digits into symbol characters shown as bars and spaces made up as lightand dark modules.

Every symbol character in a bar code begins and ends with a different

module than the one before or after it, be it light or dark. This means that

you can always visually distinguish the boundary between two characters,

which is essential for unambiguous decoding.

The left half of UPC-A bar codes are encoded from Number Set A, whilst

the right half is encoded from Number Set C.

UPC-E bar codes are encoded by variable parity from either number sets Aor B, the combination of which is dependant on the value of the check digit.

Please refer to Table 24in EANAustralia User Manual - Numbering and

Bar Coding.
http://../Manual%20A%202004%20on%20Framemaker/sectn-9.pdfhttp://../Manual%20A%202004%20on%20Framemaker/sectn-9.pdf


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Value

of digit Number set A Number set B Number set C

0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0

1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0

2 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0

3 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0

4 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0

5 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0

6 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

7 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0

8 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

9 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0

Note: 0represents a light module and 1represents a dark module.

Table 3 EAN-13 and EAN-8 number sets


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Value of

digit

Number set A & nominal

dimensions (mm)

Number set B & nominal

dimensions (mm)

Number set C & nominal

dimensions (mm)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Note: Film master tolerances are 0.005 mm except ** which are 0.013 mm

Figure 5 Human readable digits represented as symbol characters from

number sets with X-dimension (modu le widths) of 0.33mm (nominal size)

0.330.661.32

.991.651.98

.991.651.98

.30

.991.62

.691.322.01

.691.322.01

.631.321.62

.69

.991.68

.69

.991.68

.33

.661.98

.33

1.651.98

.33

1.651.98

.661.651.982.31 **

.33.661.652.31 **

.33.661.652.31**

.331.321.98

.33

.991.98

.33

.991.98

1.321.651.98

.33.66.99

.33

.66

.99


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In Figure 5, all dimensions given are ideal, theoretical dimensions

corresponding to an X-dimension of 0.33mm (nominal size). Thesedimensions are not intended for use directly in the preparation of bar

codes.

In Figure 5, the internal dimensions for symbol characters representingthe human readable digit 1, 2, 7, and 8 do not exactly correspond to

multiples of the X-dimension (module width) of 0.33 mm. This is not

an error. Some of the bars and spaces are reduced or enlarged by 1/13of

a module to provide a uniform distribution of bar width tolerances and

to improve scanning reliability.

Value of

digit

Number set A & nominal

dimensions (mm)

Number set B & nominal

dimensions (mm)

Number set C & nominal

dimensions (mm)

7

8

9

Note: Film master tolerances are 0.005 mm except ** which are 0.013 mm

Character

Value

Number Set A Number Sets B & C

Bar (Dark Bar)

mm

Space (Light Bar)

mm

Bar (Dark Bar)

mm

Space (Light Bar)

mm

1 -0.025 +0.025 +0.025 -0.025

2 -0.025 +0.025 +0.025 -0.025

7 +0.025 -0.025 -0.025 +0.025

8 +0.025 -0.025 -0.025 +0.025

Table 4 Reduction/Enlargement for characters 1, 2, 7 & 8

Figure 5 Human readable digi ts represented as symbol characters from

number sets with X-dimension (modu le widths) of 0.33mm (nominal size)

.69.992.01

.301.321.62

.301.321.62

1.021.322.01

.30

.991.29

.30

.991.29

.66

.991.322.31 **

.991.321.652.31 **

.991.321.652.31**


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Seepage 14forfurther

explanation of

symbol

character

dimensions.

EAN/UPC auxiliary symbol characters

An auxiliary symbol character is a representation in dark bars and light bars

(spaces) of data other than human readable digits; that is, start pattern, stop

pattern, or centre pattern; also known as guard bars.

The composition of modules for these auxiliary symbol characters is shown

in Table 5.

Extend the start, stop, and centre guard bars below the lower edge of all

other bars by 1.65 mmat nominal size. This measurement equals 5x (five

module widths).

Auxi liary character

Number of

modules Module set

Start and stop guard bars 3 1 0 1

Centre guard bars 5 0 1 0 1 0

Table 5 EAN-13 and EAN-8 module composition of auxil iary

symbol characters

Auxi liary charac ter Nominal d imensions (mm)

Start guard patternand light margin

(Film master tolerance0.005)

Centre guard pattern(Film master tolerance

0.013)

Stop guard patternand light margin

(Film master tolerance0.005)

Figure 6 Encoding auxiliary characters.

.33.66.99

3.304.62 min.

Left edge

Left edgeEAN-13

EAN-8

.33

.33.66.99

.331.65

Start of adjacent characters

.33

.66

.993.30 min.

Rightedge


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EAN-13 bar code dimensions in nominal size

Overall EAN-13 dimensions

Figure 7shows the nominal dimensions of the EAN-13 bar code. The X-dimension (module width) is 0.33mm at 100% magnification.

Figure 7 EAN-13 bar code with X-dimension 0.33mm (nominal size)

EAN-13 bar code height

Theheightof the bars in the nominal size bar code is 22.85 mm(the stop,

start & middle guard bars extend a further 1.65mm). This dimension is notmodular, but is an essential function of the width in order to ensure omni-

directional scanning.

EAN-13 light margin areas

Ensure an adequate light margin area surrounds the bar code. A useful

device to help maintain the light margin in some production processes is to

include a less than () character in the human-

readable field aligned with the edge of the light margin. These are referred

to as light margin indicators. Light margin area dimensions are given inTable 6.

Light margin Dimension Size in mm

Right of bar code 7x (module widths) 2.31

Left of bar code 11x (module widths) 3.63

Between lower edge of symbol charactersand top of human readable digits

1x (module width) 0.33

Table 6 EAN-13 light margin dimensions at nominal size, x = X-dimensions

Light Margin Indicator

Light margins

31.35

37.29

22.8

5

23.1

8

24.5

0

25.9

3


2.75< >

3.63 2.31


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EAN/UPC symbol character dimensionsNominalsize

At the nominal size (100%), the X-dimension (module width) of an EAN-

13 and EAN-8 is 0.33 mm.

The width of symbol characters is shown in Table 7.

The sizes for each individual symbol character are shown in Figure 5.

Total EAN/UPC bar code width in modules.

An EAN-13 bar code has a total of 95 modules, excluding light margins.

An EAN-8 bar code has a total of 67 modules, excluding light margins.

See Table 8. Thetotal widthof a EAN bar code in nominal size

(X-dimension 0.33mm) without light margins is:

EAN-13 = 95 modules x 0.33 mm =31.35 mm

EAN-8 = 67 modules x 0.33 mm =22.11 mm

Measuring symbol characters

Measure all symbol characters, with the exception of the start and stop

symbol characters, from a visually indicated dark edge to the next visually

indicated edge of the adjacent character. See Figure 5.

Measure the width of the start and stop pattern from a visually indicatededge to the edge of the light margin area. See Figure 6.

EAN characterTotal number of

modules

X-dimension

mm

Total width

mm

Human readable character 7 0.33 2.31

Start and stop guard patterns 3 0.33 0.99

Centre guard pattern 5 0.33 1.65

Table 7 EAN/UPC character dimensions in nominal size (100% magnification)

Start

guard

bars

Left

half

character

Centre

guard

bars

Right

half

character

Stop

guard

bars Total

EAN-13

3

modules

6 x 7

= 42 modules

5

modules

6 x 7

= 42 modules

3

modules

95

modules

EAN-83

modules4 x 7

= 28 modules5

modules4 x 7

= 28 modules3

modules67

modules

Table 8 EAN-13 and EAN-8 total modules


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Magnification factor

Magnification limits are from 80% to 200% of the nominal size (100%) for retail environments. (An

allowable minimum magnification of 75% is applicable only to on demand processes such as

thermal. In this case, the bar height should never be truncated below the minimum required height

for 80%.) Where a trade item may also be scanned in a general distribution environment, the

magnification limits are 150% to 200%.

Dimensions of EAN bar codes (mm)

Mag.

Factor

X-dim.

EAN-13 EAN-8

Width

Excluding

LM

Width

Including

LM

Height

incl. HR

Width

Excluding

LM

Width

Including

LM

Height

incl. HR

0.80 0.264 25.08 29.83 20.74 17.69 21.38 17.05

0.85 0.281 26.65 31.70 22.04 18.79 22.72 18.11

0.90 0.297 28.22 33.56 23.34 19.90 24.06 19.18

0.95 0.314 29.78 35.43 24.63 21.00 25.39 20.24

1.00 0.330 31.35 37.29 25.93 22.11 26.73 21.31

1.05 0.347 32.92 39.15 27.23 23.22 28.07 22.38

1.10 0.363 34.49 41.02 28.52 24.32 29.40 23.44

1.15 0.380 36.05 42.88 29.82 25.43 30.74 24.51

1.20 0.396 37.62 44.75 31.12 26.53 32.08 25.57

1.25 0.413 39.19 46.61 32.41 27.64 33.41 26.641.30 0.429 40.76 48.48 33.71 28.74 34.75 27.70

1.35 0.446 42.32 50.34 35.01 29.85 36.09 28.77

1.40 0.462 43.89 52.21 36.30 30.95 37.42 29.83

1.45 0.479 45.46 54.07 37.60 32.06 38.76 30.90

1.50 0.495 47.03 55.94 38.90 33.17 40.10 31.97

1.55 0.512 48.59 57.80 40.19 34.27 41.43 33.03

1.60 0.528 50.16 59.66 41.49 35.38 42.77 34.10

1.65 0.545 51.73 61.53 42.78 36.48 44.10 35.16

1.70 0.561 53.30 63.39 44.08 37.59 45.44 36.23

1.75 0.578 54.86 65.26 45.38 38.69 46.78 37.29

1.80 0.594 56.43 67.12 46.67 39.80 48.11 38.36

1.85 0.611 58.00 68.99 47.97 40.90 49.45 39.42

1.90 0.627 59.57 70.85 49.27 42.01 50.79 40.49

1.95 0.644 61.13 72.72 50.56 43.11 52.12 41.55

2.00 0.660 62.70 74.58 51.86 44.22 53.46 42.62

Table 9 Dimensions o f EAN/UPC bar codes at various magnif ication factors (where HR =

human readable interpretation, LM = light margin, X-dim = X-dimension)


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Anyreduction in magnification below the nominal size (100%) mayreduce reliability. Reliability of scanning isalwaysenhanced by

selecting a magnification factor higher than the theoretical minimum.

Human readable digits

Print the number that the bar code represents in human readable digits

beneath the bars. Print each digit below its corresponding symbol character.

Print the 13th digit (number9for Australian bar codes) at the outside left of

the start guard bars.

The recommended typeface for the human readable digits is OCR-Bat a

heightof2.75 mm. This typeface is not intended to be machine read.

Reasonable alternative type fonts and character sizes are acceptable

provided the interpretation is clearly legible

Make every effort to position the human readable digitsbelowthe bar code.

If this is not possible, move the human readable digits to the left of, and

align them with, the bar code. Do not infringe on the light margin area.

For add-on codes, the human readable digits should be printed above the

add-on bar code.

EAN-8 bar code format

EAN/UCC-8 identification numbers are represented by an EAN-8 bar code.

This is a shorter version bar code than the one used for EAN/UCC-13

identification numbers. The format is:

left light margin area

start guard bars

left halffour digits from number set A

centre guard bars

right halffour digits from number set C

stop guard bars

right light margin area.

See Figure 8.


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Figure 8 EAN-8 bar code format

The EAN-8 human readable digits are represented by eight symbolcharacters. The EAN-8 symbol characters are determined by the

EANUCC number sets. See Table 3.

EAN-8 bar codes use only number set A for the left of the bar code and

number set C for the right of the bar code.

There is no parity variation in either half of an EAN-8 bar code.

Figure 9uses EAN/UCC-8 identification number 93123457 as an example.

Figure 9 EAN-8 permutation for bar code digit pos itions

Table 3is used to establish the representation of the human readablecharacters into symbol characters shown as bars and spaces made up as

light and dark modules.

Startguard

Left halfcharacters:

Centreguard

Right halfcharacters:

Stopguard

four symbol

characters from

four symbol

characters from

bars

number setA

bars

barsnumber set

C

A A A A

Centre

C C C C

9 3 1 2 3 4 5 7

Check digit

guard guard guardStart Stop

bars bars bars


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EAN-8 bar code dimensions in nominal size

Overall EAN-8 dimensions

Figure 10shows the nominal dimensions of the EAN-8 bar code.

Figure 10 EAN-8 bar code with X-dimension 0.33mm (nominal size)

EAN-8 bar code height

Theheightof the bars in the nominal size bar code is 18.23 mm (the left,

right & middle guard bars extend a further 1.65mm). This dimension is not

modular, but is an essential function of the width in order to ensure

omnidirectional scanning.

EAN-8 light margin areas

Ensure an adequate light margin area surrounds the bar code. A useful

device to help maintain the light margin in some production processes is to

include a less than () character in the human-

readable field aligned with the edge of the light margin. These are referred

to as light margin indicators. See Figure 10. Light margin area dimensions

are given in Table 10.

Light margin Dimension Size in mm

Right of bar code 7x (7 module widths) 2.31

Left of bar code 7x (7 module widths) 2.31

Between lower edge of symbol charactersand top of human readable digits

1x (1 module width) 0.33

Table 10 EAN-8 light margin dimensions with X-dimension 0.33mm (nominal size),

(where x = X-dimension)


Light margins

22.11

26.73

18.2

3

18.5

6

19.8

8

21.31


2.75

2.312.31

< >


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Human readable digits

Print the numerical value of the bar code in human readable digits beneath

the bars. Print each digit below the corresponding bar code character.

The recommended typeface for the human readable digits is OCR-Bat aheightof2.75 mm. This typeface is not intended to be machine read.

Reasonable alternative type fonts and character sizes are acceptable

provided the interpretation is clearly legible

Make every effort to position the human readable digitsbelowthe bar code.

If this is not possible, move the human readable digits to the left of, and

align them with, the bar code. Do not infringe on the light margin area.

ITF-14 symbology (Interleaved Two of Five)

Introduction

ITF-14 bar codes have the following characteristics:

overall rectangular shape with light margins to the left and right

made up of a series of light and dark parallel barsat right angles to an

imaginary baseline or reference line

only two widths of light and dark barswide and narrow

the ideal bar widths at nominal size being; narrow - 1.016mm

wide - 2.540mm

a pair of human readable digits is represented by five dark bars and five

light bars, and is called asymbol charactersee Figure 11

one of the digits in the pair is represented by dark bars, and the other

digit in the pair is represented by light bars which are interleaved

because the digits are represented in pairs, the bar code can encode only

an even number of digits auxiliary symbol characters, called start and stop guard bars, in

addition to the symbol characters representing the human readable

digits

scanners that can read ITF bar codes can also read EAN/UPC bar codes,

but not vice versa

bar code magnification limits for general distribution vary between

50% and 100% the nominal size.

For scanning in environments other than general distribution

magnifications between 25% - 50% can be used.


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The ITF-14 symbology is better suited for direct printing onto

corrugated fibreboard, however, ITF-14 bar codes with magnifications

below 62.5% should not be printed directly on corrugate with

conventional (plate based) processes.

Although magnifications between 100% - 120% are acceptable based

on historical specifications, a migration to the 100% maximum should

be made on new artwork.

the bar code has a bearer bar at the top and bottom of the bar code,

butting directly against the top and bottom of the bar code bars. For

printing methods requiring printing plates, the bearer bars include

vertical sections.

Figure 11 ITF-14 symbol character

ITF-14 bar code format

An ITF-14 bar code represents an EAN/UCC-14 identification number or

an EAN/UCC-13 identification number with a filler 0. The format is:

light margin area

start guard bars

representation of the digit pairs

stop guard bars

light margin area

bearer bars above & below. Where printing plates are required the bar

code is surrounded by a bearer bar. See Figure 12.

5 dark bars

5 light bars


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Symbology details


.

Figure 12 ITF-14 bar code format

Symbol character representation of humanreadable digits for ITF-14

Each human readable digit in an ITF-14 bar code is represented by five bars

that can be either wide or narrow. This is determined by the value of the

digit and its position in the number. The five bars are always made up fromtwo wide bars and three narrow bars. See Table 11

Value of the digi tRepresentation o f wide (1)

and narrow (0) bars

0 0 0 1 1 0

1 1 0 0 0 1

2 0 1 0 0 1

3 1 1 0 0 0

4 0 0 1 0 1

5 1 0 1 0 0

6 0 1 1 0 0

7 0 0 0 1 1

8 1 0 0 1 0

9 0 1 0 1 0

Table 11 ITF-14 human readable dig it representations in bars

Startguardbars

Representation ofdigit pairs

Stopguardbars


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How to compose an ITF bar code

Take the 14 human readable digits and form digit pairs.

Using Table 11, convert each digit pair into its wide (1) andnarrow (0)

representation. Start with the first pair on the left of the GTIN. Repeat the

conversion for every pair of digits.

In each pair of digits, the:

left-hand digit is represented bydarkbars

right-hand digit is represented by lightbars.

Place the zeros and ones alternatively, starting with the left digit. Repeat forevery pair of digits in the GTIN.

Convert the zeros and ones into narrow and wide, and dark or light bars.

Figure 13 Sample ITF digit pair converted into wide (1)

and narrow (0) bars

Repeat this for all digit pairs; then add start guard bars and stop guard bars.

Each subsequent representation of a digit pair immediately follows theprevious one. For example, the number 3852 looks like:

Figure 14 Sample ITF start guard bars, two digi t pairs,

and stop guard bars

9 3 4 7 6 73 95821 0 8

1 = 10001

w n n

n w n w n

9 = 01010

n w

1is the left digitso it is represented by dark bars

9is the right digitso it is represented by light bars

startguard

3 = 11000 5 = 10100stopguard

8 = 10010 2 = 01001

bars bars


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ITF-14 auxiliary symbol characters

The ITF symbology has two auxiliary symbol characters:

start guard patterncomprising:

one narrow dark bar

one narrow light bar

one narrow dark bar


stop guard patterncomprising:

one wide dark bar


one narrow dark bar.

Figure 15 ITF start pattern and stop pattern

ITF-14 bar code dimensions in nominal size

Overall ITF-14 dimensions

At the nominal magnification of 100%, the X-dimension (width of a narrow

element, i.e. bar) is 1.016mm and a wide element (bar) is 2.540mm.

Figure 16shows the nominal dimensions of the ITF-14 bar code.

This corresponds to the nominal symbol character dimensions given on

page 27.

startpattern

4.064 mm

stoppattern

4.572 mm


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Figure 16 ITF-14 bar code nominal dimensions

Note: Figure reduced below 100% for presentation purposes only.

Formula for calculating the ITF bar code width usingnominal dimensions

ITF-14 bar code height

Theheightof the bars in the general distribution environment is always

32mm (regardless of the magnification).For all other scanning

environments, a minimum height of 13mm is acceptable. If it is not

possible to apply the full bar height, for practical reasons, move the human

readable digits to the left of the bars.

If the bar code still does not fit,as a last resort, you may need to truncate

the bar code by the minimum amount necessary. However, in thesecircumstances you must first make all attempts to accommodate the bar

code at the full bar height.

4.8 10.2mm

d1

d2

5.72 mm

mm

31.8mm

mm

122.428mm

41.4

152.428 mm

d1 = number of human readable digits

x the width of the bars representing a pair of human

readable digits

+ the width of the start and stop guard pattern

d1 = n x 16.256 mm + 8.636 mm2

d1 = 122.428mm

d2 = d1

+ width of light margins (2 x 10.2 = 20.4)

+ width of bearer bar (2 x 4.8 = 9.6)

d2 = d1 + (2 x 10.2 mm) + (2 x 4.8 mm)

Total width at nominal size = 152.428mm


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ITF-14 bearer bar

The purpose of the bearer bar is;

1) to equalise the pressure exerted by the printing plate over the entire

surface of the bar code, and

2) to enhance the reading reliability assisting in the reduction of the

probability of misreads or short scans which may occur when a skewed

scanning beam enters or exits the bar code through the top or bottom edge.

See Figure 17.

Figure 17 ITF-14 bar code and example of a skewed scanning beam

The top & bottom bearer bars are mandatory unless it is not technicallyfeasible to apply it, in which case reading reliability is reduced.

For printing methods requiring printing plates,the nominal bearer bar has

a constant thickness of 4.8mm and must completely surround the bar code,

including its light margins (quiet zones), and butt directly against the top

and bottom of the bars.

For printing methods that do not require printing plates, make the bearer

bar a minimum of two times the X-dimension (width of the narrow bar),

which at nominal size is:

X-dimension (nominal narrow bar width) x 2 = 1.016 x 2 = 2.032 mm

Place the bearer bar touching the top and bottom of the bars. It does not

need to, (but it is permissible to do so) extend into the light margin areas,

nor is it necessary to print the vertical bearer bars at each end.

H marks

TheH marks are quality control guides for the printer. Place H marks:

within the box formed by the bearer bar

aligned with the centre of the bar code bars

outside the right and left light margins.This is achieved by providing an

additional 3mm to the left & right of the bar codes light margins, when

H gauges are incorporated.

H marks are not required to be printed on labels. See Printing and

production, further on in this manual for more information about H marks.

1 9 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 4


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ITF light margin areas at nominal size

The light margins to therightand leftof the bar code are compulsory,

whether or not there is a bearer bar. Both light margins have widths of 10x

(where x is the X-dimension), which at 100% magnification is

10 x 1.016mm = 10.2 mm.

Leave a minimum clear area of 1 mm between the bottom of the bearer bar

and the top of the human readable characters.

Magnification factors

For ITF-14 bar codes which will be scanned in a general distribution

environment magnifications are between 50% and 100% (X-dimensions

(narrow element widths) between 0.50mm to 1.016mm). Packages and/or

containers marked with ITF-14 bar codes with magnifications between100% and 120% are acceptable based on historical specifications, but a

migration to the 100% maximum magnification should be made on new

artwork.

ITF-14 bar codes with magnifications below 62.5% (X-dimensions less

than 0.635mm) should not be printed directly on corrugated cardboard with

conventional (plate based) processes.

In environments other than general distribution, the minimum

magnification is 25%.

Anyreduction in magnification below the nominal size (100%) mayreduce reliability. Reliability of scanning isalwaysenhanced by

selecting a magnification factor higher than the theoretical minimum.

When you apply a magnification factor, some sections of the bar code are

affected and some are not. See Table 13.

See Table 12for key dimensions of various ITF-14 bar codes at various

magnification factors for general distribution.


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Human readable interpretation

A clearly legible, human-readable interpretation (proportional to the size of

the bar code) of the data characters, including symbol check character

should normally be printed with the bar code encoding them. Start/stop

patterns have no human-readable interpretation. Character size and font are

not specified, and the interpretation may be printed anywhere in the area

surrounding the bar code, although the preference is directly below the bar

code ensuring light margins (quiet zones) are not encroached upon.

ITF-14 symbol character dimensionsnominal size

In the nominal size (100%), the ideal theoretical width of the bars is:

narrow bar 1.016 mm

wide bar 2.540 mm(2.5 times wider than the narrow bar).

The total width of an ITF-14 bar code at the nominal size (100%) excluding

the bearer bar, light margin, and H gauge is 122.428 mm.

Mag.

factor

X-

dimension

Narrow

element

(mm)

Wide

element

(mm)

Width of

Light

Margins

(10x)

(mm)

Min.

height

of

bars

(mm)

Excluding

bearer bar

Including

bearer bar & LM

Width

not incl

LM

(mm)

Width

incl

LM

(mm)

Width

Not

incl. H

gauges

(mm)

Width

incl. H

gauges

(mm)

Height

(mm)

0.5 0.508 1.270 5.1 32 61.214 71.41 81.01 87.01 41.6

0.625 0.635 1.588 6.4 32 76.518 89.32 98.92 104.92 41.6

0.7 0.711 1.778 7.1 32 85.700 99.90 109.50 115.50 41.6

0.8 0.813 2.032 8.1 32 97.942 114.14 123.94 129.94 41.6

0.9 0.914 2.286 9.2 32 110.185 128.59 138.14 144.14 41.6

1.0 1.016 2.540 10.2 32 122.428 142.83 152.43 158.43 41.6

Note: In the heading of this table, Mag. = magnification, LM = Light Margins

Table 12 ITF-14 dimensions at various magnification factors for general distri bution

Sections of the bar code

that change

Sections of the bar code

that do not change

width of all bars bearer bar

width of all light margin areas human readable digits

Table 13 Parts of ITF-14 bar code affected/no t affected by apply ing the

magnification factor


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The total width of an ITF-14 bar code at the nominal size (100%) including

the bearer bar, light margin, and H gauge is 158.428 mm.

As shown in Table 15, the bar widths of the symbol characters are:

digit pair = 6 narrow segments and 4 wide segments

= (6 x 1.016 mm) + (4 x 2.540 mm) = 16.256 mm

start guard bars = four narrow segments = 4.064 mm

stop guard bars = two narrow segments+ 1 wide segment = 4.572 mm.

These dimensions are ideal, theoretical dimensions corresponding to an X-

dimension (narrow element width) of 1.016mm (nominal size of an ITF-14

bar code). They are not intended to be used directly in the preparation of

bar codes.

UCC/EAN-128 symbologyIntroduction

The UCC/EAN-128 bar code always represents Application Identifiers

(AIs)to encode data identifying attributes, services, assets, locations and

shipments. It also provides an option for encoding non-retail GTINs.

Characteristics for UCC/EAN-128 bar codes are:

an alpha-numeric code

an overall rectangular shape with a left and right light margin

Start guard bars n x digit pairs Stop guard bars

4.064 mm n x 16.256 mm 4.572 mm

Table 14 ITF-14 bar code total width without li ght margins

Start guard bars 7 digit pairs Stop guard bars Total

4 narrowsegments

6 narrow segments4 wide segments

x 7 pairs42 narrow segments28 wide segments

2 narrowsegments

1 widesegment

48 narrow

segments

29 wide

segments

4.064 mm 113.792 mm 4.572 mm 122.428 mm

Table 15 ITF-14 bar code character dimensions


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a series of light and dark parallel barsat right angles to an imaginary

base line or reference line

light and dark bars comprise from one to four light and dark modules

of uniform width

each human readable character is represented by 11 light and darkmodules, which are collectively called asymbol character

each symbol character, except the stop guard pattern, comprises 11

modules grouped into three dark bars and three light bars

see Figure 18

the stop pattern comprises 13 modules grouped into four dark bars and

three light bars

a double character start pattern, comprising an appropriate start

character and immediately followed by a function one (FNC1)

character a symbol check digit that is not part of the human readable characters,

and is additional to any check digits used in the human readable

characters

they can be read bi-directionally

for a given length of data, the bar code size is variable between limits in

magnification, to accommodate the ranges in quality achievable by the

various printing processes

the X-dimension (single module width) at 100% magnification is

1.016mm.

dimensions are specified for the nominal size; magnification limits

within the general distribution environment are from 48.7% to 100% of

the nominal size. In environments other than general distribution,

magnifications may be reduced to a minimum of 25%, however

reliability of scanning isalwaysenhanced by selecting a magnification

factor higher than the theoretical minimum.

Figure 18 UCC/EAN-128 symbol character

11 modules

three dark bars three light bars


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UCC/EAN-128 bar code format

Symbol character representation of humanreadable characters for UCC/EAN-128

Character sets

Each human readable character in a UCC/EAN-128 bar code is represented

by a combination of 11 dark and light modules arranged in different

number sets known as A, B, and C.

A list of all the combinations of dark and light modules for each human

readable character is given in Table 18.

There are three ways to represent each character, called character sets A, B,

and C.

Set Aincludes all the standard upper case alpha-numeric characters,

plus control and special characters.

Set Bincludes all the standard upper case and lower case characters

plus special characters.

Set Cis for numerical characters (digits) only, and includes the set of

100digit pairsfrom 00 through 99, as well as three special characters.

Set C encodes data at twice the density of set A and B, so therefore

represents two human readable characters in one symbol character.

Auxiliary characters

In UCC/EAN-128 there are nine auxiliary patterns:

start A code A shift

start B code B stop

start C code C FNC 1

Thestart characterdetermines which character set the bar code begins

with. See Table 16.

Lightmarginarea

Startpattern

(characterset A, B,

or C)

FNC 1N data

characters

Symbolcheckdigit

Stop patternLight

marginarea

Figure 19 UCC/EAN-128 bar code format


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Thestop characteralways terminates a UCC/EAN-128 bar code. It has two

extra modules than other characters in UCC/EAN-128 symbology.

See Table 17.

You can change the character set within the bar code by using acode A, B,

or Cin any of the character sets, or by using theshift characterincharacters sets A and B.

Value Start character

Bars (B) and spaces (S)

B S B S B S

103 START A 2 1 1 4 1 2

104 START B 2 1 1 2 1 4

105 START C 2 1 1 2 3 2

Table 16 UCC/EAN-128 start character sets

Bars (B) and spaces (S)

B S B S B S B

STOP 2 3 3 1 1 1 2

Table 17 UCC/EAN-128 stop character set


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Val

Chr.

set

A

Chr.

set

B

Chr.

set

C

Bar & space

guard bars

B S B S B SVal

Chr.

set

A

Chr.

set

B

Chr.

set

C

Bar & space

guard bars

B S B S B S

0 SP SP 00 2 1 2 2 2 2 52 T T 52 2 1 3 3 1 1

1 ! ! 01 2 2 2 1 2 2 53 U U 53 2 1 3 1 3 1

2 02 2 2 2 2 2 1 54 V V 54 3 1 1 1 2 3

3 # # 03 1 2 1 2 2 3 55 W W 55 3 1 1 3 2 14 $ $ 04 1 2 1 3 2 2 56 X X 56 3 3 1 1 2 1

5 % % 05 1 3 1 2 2 2 57 Y Y 57 3 1 2 1 1 3

6 & & 06 1 2 2 2 1 3 58 Z Z 58 3 1 2 3 1 1

7 07 1 2 2 3 12 59 [ [ 59 3 3 2 1 1 1

8 ( ( 08 1 3 2 2 1 2 60 \ \ 60 3 1 4 1 1 1

9 ) ) 09 2 2 1 2 1 3 61 ] ] 61 2 2 1 4 1 1

10 * * 10 2 2 1 3 1 2 62 ^ ^ 62 4 3 1 1 1 1

11 + + 11 2 3 1 2 1 2 63 _ _ 63 1 1 1 2 2 4

12 , , 12 1 1 2 2 3 2 64 NUL 64 1 1 1 4 2 2

13 - - 13 1 2 2 1 3 2 65 SOH a 65 1 2 1 1 2 4

14 . . 14 1 2 2 2 3 1 66 STX b 66 1 2 1 4 2 1

15 / / 15 1 1 3 2 2 2 67 ETX c 67 1 4 1 1 2 216 0 0 16 1 2 3 1 2 2 68 EOT d 68 1 4 1 2 2 1

17 1 1 17 1 2 3 2 2 1 69 ENQ e 69 1 1 2 2 1 4

18 2 2 18 2 2 3 2 1 1 70 ACK f 70 1 1 2 4 1 2

19 3 3 19 2 2 1 1 3 2 71 BEL g 71 1 2 2 1 1 4

20 4 4 20 2 2 1 2 3 1 72 BS h 72 1 2 2 4 1 1

21 5 5 21 2 1 3 2 1 2 73 HT i 73 1 4 2 1 1 2

22 6 6 22 2 2 3 1 1 2 74 LF j 74 1 4 2 2 1 1

23 7 7 23 3 1 2 1 3 1 75 VT k 75 2 4 1 2 1 1

24 8 8 24 3 1 1 2 2 2 76 FF l 76 2 2 1 1 1 4

25 9 9 25 3 2 1 1 2 2 77 CR m 77 4 1 3 1 1 1

26 : : 26 3 2 1 2 2 1 78 SO n 78 2 4 1 1 1 2

27 ; ; 27 3 1 2 2 1 2 79 SI o 79 1 3 4 1 1 1

28 < < 28 3 2 2 1 1 2 80 DLE p 80 1 1 1 2 4 2

29 = = 29 3 2 2 2 1 1 81 DC1 q 81 1 2 1 1 4 2

30 > > 30 2 1 2 1 2 3 82 DC2 r 82 1 2 1 2 4 1

31 ? ? 31 2 1 2 3 2 1 83 DC3 s 83 1 1 4 2 1 2

32 @ @ 32 2 3 2 1 2 1 84 DC4 t 84 1 2 4 1 1 2

33 A A 33 1 1 1 3 2 3 85 NAK u 85 1 2 4 2 1 1

34 B B 34 1 3 1 1 2 3 86 SYN v 86 4 1 1 2 1 2

35 C C 35 1 3 1 3 2 1 87 ETB w 87 4 2 1 1 1 2

36 D D 36 1 1 2 3 1 3 88 CAN x 88 4 2 1 2 1 1

37 E E 37 1 3 2 1 1 3 89 EM y 89 2 1 2 1 4 1

38 F F 38 1 3 2 3 1 1 90 SUB z 90 2 1 4 1 2 1

39 G G 39 2 1 1 3 1 3 91 ESC { 91 4 1 2 1 2 1

40 H H 40 2 3 1 1 1 3 92 FS 92 1 1 1 1 4 3

41 I I 41 2 3 1 3 1 1 93 GS } 93 1 1 1 3 4 1

42 J J 42 1 1 2 1 3 3 94 RS ~ 94 1 3 1 1 4 1

43 K K 43 1 1 2 3 3 1 95 US DEL 95 1 1 4 1 1 3

44 L L 44 1 3 2 1 3 1 96 FNC 3 FNC 3 96 1 1 4 3 1 1

45 M M 45 1 1 3 1 2 3 97 FNC 2 FNC 2 97 4 1 1 1 1 3

46 N N 46 1 1 3 3 2 1 98 SHIFT SHIFT 98 4 1 1 3 1 1

47 O O 47 1 3 3 1 2 1 99 CODE C CODE C 99 1 1 3 1 4 1

48 P P 48 3 1 3 1 2 1 100 CODE B FNC 4 CODE B 1 1 4 1 3 1

49 Q Q 49 2 1 1 3 3 1 101 FNC 4 CODE A CODE A 3 1 1 1 4 1

50 R R 50 2 3 1 1 3 1 102 FNC 1 FNC 1 FNC 1 4 1 1 1 3 1

51 S S 51 2 1 3 1 1 3

Table 18 Characters represented in UCC/EAN-128 character sets


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UCC/EAN-128 double start character

The UCC/EAN-128 symbology has a specialdouble start character

comprising a combination of start A, B, or C, and FNC 1.

The special start characters differentiate UCC/EAN-128 bar codes from themore generalised Code-128 bar codes. In other words, any Code-128 bar

code in the world that begins with a UCC/EAN-128 double start character

is always a UCC/EAN-128 bar code.

In less than 1% of cases,FNC 1is the symbol check character.

FNC 1 is used as a separator character when variable length AIs andtheir data fields are concatenated into a single bar code. This character

is transmitted as character , ASCII value 29. (Please note that it is

not permissible to encode the GS character in the bar code in place of

the FNC1 as a separator character).

In summary, use:

start A to begin encoded UCC/EAN-128 data for character set A

start B to begin encoded UCC/EAN-128 data for character set B

start C to begin encoded UCC/EAN-128 data for character set C

always use start C when the data, including the AI, begins with four or

more numeric characters.

Codes A, B, and C

Code A, B, and C characters allow a change in character set to be effected

withinthe bar code. All characters following the code character are

encoded according to the corresponding character set until another code

character or shift character appears. The following characters are then

encoded according to the latest code or shift character. The shift key has a

similar function to the shift key on a keyboard.

Code A changes the encodation to set A, code B to set B, and code C to

set C.

The use of start, shift, and code characters

Always try to minimise the UCC/EAN-128 bar code length. Make sureyou follow the guidance provided in this section.

The termdatarefers to the application identifier followed by a string ofhuman readable characters.

A start character precedes every group of data.Control characters are listedunder character set A, positions 64 to 95, of Table 18.


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The conditions for using the different start characters are:

when the data begins with four or more digits, use start C

when the data begins with less than four digits, and a control character

occurs in the data before any lower case character, use start A

otherwise, use start B.

If you use start C and the data begins with an odd number of digits,place a

code A or code B before the last digit. Use the above guidelines to choose

between code A and code B.

When four or more digits occur together in character sets A or B:

if there is an even number of digits in the group, insert code C before

the first digit

if there is an odd number of digits in the group, insert code C

immediately after the first digit.

When in characterset Band a control character appears in the data:

followed by a lower case character before another control character

appears, insert the shift character before the control character

otherwise, insert code A before the control character.

When in charactersetAand lower case character appears in the data:

followed by a control character before another lower case character,

insert the shift character before the lower case character

otherwise, insert code B before the lower case character.

When in characterset C, and a non-numeric character occurs in the data:

insert code A or B before the non-numeric character using the above

guidelines to choose between code A and B.

Shift character

The shift character allows a character set change for theone symbolcharacterthat immediately follows it in the bar code. Subsequent

characters revert to the character set active prior to the shift character.

The shift character operates only between character sets A and B. It isnot possible to shift into or out of character set C.

The shift character has a similar function to the shift key on a keyboard.


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Symbol check character

Always include the UCC/EAN-128 modulo 103 symbol check character

immediately before the stop character. Follow the steps below to calculate

the symbol check character.

Step 1 Multiply the:

value of the start character by 1

value of FNC 1 by 1

value of the first data character by 2

value of each remaining data and auxiliary character with ascending

weights, 3, 4, 5 and so on.

The values are in Table 16and Table 18.

Do not include the stop character.

AIs are data characters.

Do not show the symbol check character in the human readablecharacters.

The batch number 2503X45 is encoded as follows.

Step 2 Add all the totals.(In this example the result is 1458.)

Step 3 Divide the result of step 2 by 103.

(In this example the result is 14, with a remainder of 16.)

The symbol check character is the value of the remainder.

(In this example, 16.)

Step 4 Find the value of the remainder in Table 18.

You can then see the associated representation in the appropriatecharacter set, or as bars and spaces.

Start C FNC 1 10 2503 Code B X45:

Start C value 105 x 1 = 105FNC 1 value 102 x 1 = 102

10 value 10 x 2 = 20

25 value 25 x 3 = 75

03 value 3 x 4 = 12

Code B value 100 x 5 = 500

X value 56 x 6 = 336

4 value 20 x 7 = 140

5 value 21 x 8 = 168


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UCC/EAN-128 bar code dimensionsnominalsize

Overall UCC/EAN-128 dimensions

Figure 20 UCC/EAN-128 bar code at 50% magnifi cation

The size of the UCC/EAN-128 bar code depends on:

the X-dimension (magnification factor) chosen

the number of characters encoded

the number of non-numeric characters in the data.

The X-dimension (module width) at 100% magnification is 1.016mm.

Magnifications are between25% and 100%, which equates to X-

dimensions (module widths) between 0.25mm to 1.016mm. For general

distribution, a minimum magnification of48.7%should be used.

Magnification factors forAI 00Serial Shipping Container Code(SSCC) are between50%and94%.

Mathematically, when W is width, 11 is the number of modules per symbol

character, N is the number of symbol characters (excluding the start and

stop characters and symbol check character), 66 is the number of auxiliary

characters and X is the X-dimension (module width), which at 100%

magnification is 1.016mm.

W = (11N + 66)X (including light margins)

UCC/EAN-128 bar code height

EANUCC has given minimum size recommendations for specific

applications.

For general distribution, the required height of the bars is 32mm. For

other scanning environments, a minimum height of 13mm is

acceptable.


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For UCC/EAN-128 bar codes on an EANUCC logistics label, the

minimum height for the SSCC bar code is 32mm. For all other bar

codes on the label, a minimum height of 27mm is acceptable based on

historical specifications, but a migration to 32mm should be made.

UCC/EAN-128 light margin areas

The compulsory light margin areain nominal size (100%) on both the left

and right of the bar code is 10x(10 modules) = 10.2mm

Light margin areas vary according to magnification.

UCC/EAN-128 bar code dimensions for numeric data

UCC/EAN-128 symbol character dimensionsnominal size

In the nominal size (100%), the X-dimension (width of a single module) of

a UCC/EAN-128 bar code is 1.016 mm.

Number of

characters

including AI

Dimensions (mm) including light margin areas

MF 0.25 MF 0.5 MF 0.6 MF 0.8 MF 1.0

4 22.35 44.70 53.64 71.52 89.40

6 25.14 50.29 60.354 80.46 100.58

8 27.94 55.88 67.05 89.40 111.76

10 30.73 61.46 73.75 98.34 122.93

12 30.52 67.05 80.46 107.28 134.11

16 39.11 78.23 93.87 125.17 156.46

20 44.70 89.40 107.28 143.05

30 58.67 117.34 140.81

Note: These dimensions are based on Character Set C where 2 digits are encodedin 1 symbol character. The inclusion of data in Character Set A or B and shiftcharacters will increase the length of the bar code. Use the formula outlined on theprevious page.

Table 19 UCC/EAN-128 bar code dimensions for numeric data


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UCC/EAN-128 bar code width in modules

A UCC/EAN-128 bar code has a total of 11N + 66 modules (including the

light margins). This is made up from all data characters plus auxiliary

characters. See Table 20.

The nominal width of eachsymbol character, with the exception of the

stop character,is 11.176 mm, and the nominal width of thestop characteris 13.208 mm.

The maximum number of encoded human readable characters for one

UCC/EAN-128 bar code is 48. This number includes AIs and function

characters when used as field separator characters, but excludes auxiliary

characters and the symbol check character.

Thetotal physical lengthof a UCC/EAN-128 bar code depends on how

many characters you encode and which character set you use. The

maximum physical length, including light margins, is 16.5 cm.

Measure the width of each character, except the stop character, from the

visually indicated edge (dark bar) to the visually indicated edge of the

adjacent character. For the stop character, measure between its extreme

visually indicated edges.

In character set C, two digits are encoded in one symbol character so you

can encode numeric data with twice the density.

All dimensions given are ideal, theoretical dimensions corresponding toan X-dimension of 1.016mm, ie, the nominal size bar code. These

dimensions are not intended for use directly in the preparation of barcodes.

Start

pattern FNC 1

N data

characters

Symbol

check

character

Stop

pattern Total

11modules

11modules

N x 11modules

11modules

13modules

11N + 46modules

Table 20 UCC/EAN-128 total modules


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Human readable characters

For UCC/EAN-128 bar codes, show the human readable characters

represented in the bar code eitheraboveorbelowthe bars.

The symbol check digit (Mod 103) is not part of the data. Do not showit in human readable format.

Make sure AIs are clearly recognisable to assist with quick key entry.

Achieve this by placing the AIs in parentheses in the human readable form.

The brackets must not be encoded in the actual bar code.

Concatenation

You can concatenate (combine) multiple AIs and their fields into a single

bar code.

Figure 21 Concatenated UCC/EAN-128 bar code

Place a FNC 1 character field separator after all variable-length fields to

identify the end of that field. This is not necessary for the last field in the

bar code.

When the first two characters of the AI correspond to a pre-defined length

indicator, you do not need to use a FNC 1 field separator character to

separate the fields because their length is already known. See Table 21.

The next AI follows immediately after the last character in the data field of

the previous AI.

Figure 21and Figure 22show various concatenations.

GTINAI

DataUse bydate AI

Data DataBatch

number AI

(01)09312345678907(17)981012(10)123456


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l.

Figure 22 Concatenated bar code

When you concatenate a number of AIs and their fields, and only onefield is of variable length, place the variable length field at the end of

the bar code. This saves you from needing to include a field separator.

UCC/EAN-128 system considerations and

processing softwareWherever possible, AIs and fixed field lengths have been chosen to result

in an even number of numeric characters. This reduces the length of the bar

code, because UCC/EAN-128 can pack a pair of digits into one symbol

character.

See Symbol character representation of human readable characters for

UCC/EAN-128 on page 30.

Although UCC/EAN-128 can encode any length alphanumeric field, data

fields take up less space when they are all numeric and have an evennumber of digits. For example, when assigning batch numbers, select even

length numeric batch numbers to produce the shortest bar code.

Note that AIs with three digit identifiers, for example, purchase order

numbers (400), require an odd number of data digits to make an even length

field.

The symbology identifier prefix]C1identifies the symbology being read

by the scanner. UCC/EAN-128 bar codes must be processed to break them

into fields through their respective AIs.

A1 & A2

A2 & A3

A1, A2 & A3

A1 data 1 A2 data . . 2

A2 A3 data . . 3

A1 data 1 data . . 2 F1 A3 data . . 3

data . . 2 F1

A2

A1a fixed length field of data called data 1

A2 and A3variable length fields of data calleddata ..3

FNC1the function 1 character

Note:

data ..2 and


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Symbol input processing

Symbol input processing software:

verifies that symbology is UCC/EAN-128 by checking the symbology

identifier ]C1

separates the AIs in the symbol data string using pre-defined length

indicator table and separator

transmits each AI and its data field to the application processing

software

Figure 24 Decoding software flowchartbasic required logic

N

Y

Y

N

Y

N

Do first 2characters

= 23?Y

N

Move number ofcharacters from thedata string intothe buffer

Enter symboldata string

String startswith ]C1?

Remove ]C1

End of string? Finished

Are first 2characters inthe pre-definedlength indicatortable?

Move 2d+4 charactersfrom the data stringinto buffer(d=3rd character)

Does buffercontain ?

Does buffercontain

end-of-string?

Does stringcontain ?

Move charactersup to into

buffer

Move remainingdata stringinto buffer

Y

Y

Transmit buffer(AI + data)to application

Y

N

N

N

Error routine

Next position

?

Advance oneposition

in data string

Next position

?

Y

N

Y

UCC/EAN-128

NOT


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The basic required logic for processing one string of data coming from a

UCC/EAN-128 bar code is shown in Figure 23.

It may not be the optimum software implementation. It assumes the scanner

provides ]C1 to identify UCC/EAN-128, and (ASCII 29) for any

other FNC 1 characters following the initial FNC 1 in the start character.

Transmitted data

All data characters are included in the data transmission.

The shift characters, code characters, symbol check digit, and stop pattern

are not transmitted.

The double character start pattern (start A, B, or C plus FNC 1) are

transmitted as ]C1. This special string of characters identifies the UCC/

EAN-128 symbology from other symbologies.

The FNC 1, used as a separator when multiple AIs and their data fields are

concatenated, is transmitted as character (ASCII 29). It is not

permissible to substitute a GS character set for the FNC1 within the bar

code itself.

Never use the character string ]C1 and the character in the user data

portion of any EANUCC application identifier.

The AI is not part of the data field. When the data is used in otherapplications such as EDI, the AI must be dropped.

Symbology identifiers

All scanning equipment has the ability to recognise the symbology of the

bar code that has been scanned. Some scanners have the optional feature of

being able to transmit asymbology identifier. The symbology identifier is a

three character data string comprising a flag character, code character and a

modifier character.

]is theFlag Character(which has anASCIIvalue of 93) - this

indicates that the two characters following are symbol identifier

characters;

cis the Code Character- this indicates the bar code;

mis theModifier Character- this indicates the mode in which the

symbology is used.

Noteif used the symbology identifier is transmitted as a prefix to the data

message.


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The symbology identifiers used in the EANUCC system are as follows:

1 EAN/UPC bar codes with add-ons may be considered either as two

separate bar codes, each of which is transmitted separately with its own

symbology identifier, or as a single data packet. The system designer

shall select one of these methods.

2 The identifier is ]I0 if the check digit calculation is not performed by the

bar code reader

Symbology

identifierSymbology format Content

] E 0 EAN-13, UPC-A or UPC-E 13 digits] E 1 2 digit UPC/EAN add-on 2 digits

] E 2 5 digit UPC/EAN add-on 5 digits

] E 3 EAN-13, UPC-E or UPC-E with add-on 15 or 18 digits 1

] E 4 EAN-8 8 digits

] I 1 ITF-14 2 14 digits

] C 1 UCC/EAN-128 variable alpha-numeric

Table 22 Symbology identifiers


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RSS & Composite Bar Codes

Introduction

This section provides technical specifications for the Re

symbology printing v1

Documents