# Barcode (EAN-13)

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/barcode

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Printing & binding
Also called: Bookland EAN · ISBN barcode

A book’s barcode is the ISBN encoded as EAN-13, often with a five-digit price add-on, printed low on the back cover for shops and warehouses to scan.

## Definition

The **barcode** on a book is its ISBN in machine-readable form. Since 2007 the ISBN is itself an EAN-13 number (beginning 978 or 979), so the bars are a standard **EAN-13** symbol — historically called a *Bookland* barcode — with the ISBN printed in human-readable digits above it. Many carry a second, smaller **five-digit add-on**: 5 followed by the US price in cents, so **51999** means $19.99; **90000** means no price is encoded.

Placement and reproduction are standardised because scanners are fussy. The barcode sits at the lower right of the back cover (or the back of a jacket), printed in solid black on white or a pale background, at 80–100% of nominal size, with a clear *quiet zone* on both sides and no lamination gloss that scatters the laser.

Retailers and distributors require it; a book sold only from an author's own site does not need one. Barcode generators are free once you have the ISBN.

## In Bindery

Bindery’s bookstore pack adds a barcode to the wrap cover, alongside clean files ready for Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Apple Books and Kobo.

## Related

- [ISBN](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/isbn)
- [Wrap cover](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/wrap-cover)
- [Wholesale discount](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/wholesale-discount)
- [Imprint](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/imprint)
- [Business Book Maker](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/formats/business-book-maker)
- [Turn a PDF Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/pdf-to-printed-book)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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