HEELPBOOK - How to manually calculate an EAN-13 Check Digit ############# An EAN-13 is the European analogue to the 12-digit Universal Price Code (UPC) found on most American consumer products. An EAN-13 starts with a two-digit number that identifies the country or region numbering authority that issued it, whereas a UPC begins with one digit. Otherwise, the formats are the same. An EAN-13 also contains a five-digit manufacturer code, a five-digit product code and a check digit. This last digit is calculated according to an algorithm and serves to validate an EAN-13. Calculating the check digit manually can be tedious, but is nonetheless simple. ####### Procedure * Write down an EAN-13. For example, 5010017088439 is the EAN-13 from a European consumer product. * Number the digits in the EAN from right to left, ignoring the check digit (the last digit), which you will compute. * The number without the check digit is 501001708843. * Number the digits 1 through 12, counting "3" as the first digit and "5" as the last, in this example. * Add the odd digits: 3 + 8 + 0 + 1 + 0 + 0 = 12. * Multiply the answer by 3: 12 x 3 = 36. * Add the digits in even positions: 4 + 8 + 7 + 0 + 1 + 5 = 25. * Add the results from previous steps: 36 + 25 = 61 * Subtract the number from the next multiple of 10. In the example, the next multiple of 10 after 61 is 70, so you should subtract 61 from 70: 70 - 61 = 9. This is the check digit in the EAN! ############ ARTICLE INFO ############# Article Month: February Article Date: 18/02/2013 Permalink: http://heelpbook.altervista.org/2013/how-to-manually-calculate-an-ean-13-check-digit/ Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_5135127_calculate-ean-check-digit.html Language: English View more articles on: http://www.heelpbook.net/ Follow us on Facebook: http://it-it.facebook.com/pages/HeelpBook/100790870008832 Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/HeelpBook Follow us on RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Heelpbook Follow us on Delicious: http://delicious.com/heelpbook Linkedin: http://it.linkedin.com/pub/stefano-maggi/27/73a/b20 Google+ : https://plus.google.com/116990277568167008289/posts