What is the difference between Ean 8 and Ean 13 barcodes?

EAN-8 and EAN-13 are both types of barcodes that are used to identify products and their information. The main difference between them is the number of digits they contain. EAN-8 has eight digits, while EAN-13 has thirteen digits.

EAN-8 is a shorter version of EAN-13, and it is used for small products or packages where space is limited. EAN-13 is the standard form of EAN, and it is used for most products and packages. EAN-13 can also encode more information than EAN-8, such as the country of origin, the manufacturer, and the product type.

Both EAN-8 and EAN-13 are composed of four parts: a GS1 prefix, a manufacturer code, a product code, and a check digit. The GS1 prefix indicates the country or region of registration or the type of product. The manufacturer code identifies the producer of the product. The product code specifies the product itself. The check digit is a number that validates the barcode and prevents errors.

The length of each part varies depending on the type of barcode. For EAN-8, the GS1 prefix is three digits, the manufacturer code is two or three digits, the product code is two or three digits, and the check digit is one digit. For EAN-13, the GS1 prefix is three digits, the manufacturer code is four or five digits, the product code is three or four digits, and the check digit is one digit.

Here are some examples of EAN-8 and EAN-13 barcodes:

EAN-8: 73513537

EAN-13: 5901234123457

You can see that EAN-8 has fewer digits than EAN-13, and that the product code is shorter. You can also see that the first three digits of EAN-13 indicate the country or region of registration, which is Poland in this case.