A barcode represents the number that identifies a book uniquely. All the information about a title is held in a computer database. By scanning the barcode, this information (including the description and price) will be retrieved from the database.
Barcodes come in a variety of formats known as “Barcode Symbology”. There are two ways used to generate barcodes for books, the older Bookland or Bookland EAN, and the newer EAN/JAN-13 or just EAN-13. The difference is that the older Bookland symbology generated a 13-digit barcode from what was then a 10-digit ISBN. Newer books, which have 13-digit ISBN, can use the Bookland symbology or the newer EAN-13.
The five-digit retail price barcode is made up of the country code digit and the four-digit price. The British pound, for example, is 0, the U.S. dollar is 5, and the Canadian dollar is 6. Thus, a book retailing for £17.95 would read “01795” – if it were USD $17.95 it would read “51795.”
A code of 90000 indicates the book does not have a suggested retail price and is
commonly used when a single cover file is used across multiple jurisdictions.
The price barcode is optional in some countries but is mandatory in the United States.
A specific price is, however, still optional, so it is common to see U.S. books with a 90000 barcode. If you contract with a print on demand manufacturer, they will provide you with a cover template and barcode or you let it create by a graphic designer or DIY.
How to Create a Barcode
GS1 is the official provider of GTINs and EAN/UPC barcodes globally: https://www.gs1.org/contact
As a global standards organization, GS1 ensures your barcodes work everywhere in the world.
See also the easy barcode creator software for Mac and Windows, for example: http://www.easybarcodetech.com/ebc.html
or at https://barcode.tec-it.com/en/ISBN13
Specifications
The specifications for barcode type, size, and placement are listed at the print-on-demand sites, for example at Amazon’s help site: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201953020
“When you upload your cover, you can choose to provide your own barcode.
It has to have a resolution of 300 dots per inch. It also needs to be 2″ (50.8 mm) wide and 1.2″ (30.5 mm) high. When placing the barcode on your back cover, make sure it doesn’t obscure other elements. If the barcode doesn’t meet our specifications, we’ll replace it.”
“IF you don’t choose to include your own barcode, then we’ll place an ISBN barcode in a 2″ (50.8 mm) by 1.2″ (30.5 mm) white box in the lower right-hand corner of your book’s back cover. If you leave images or text on this part of the cover, the barcode will cover them during printing, so don’t leave anything important there.”
See Also These Barcode Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6aR1k-ympo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJW5D5SDAgw&t=79s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmiPA54gHB0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aYdKCWR5YM
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