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The Universal Product Code (UPC) is a barcode symbology that is widely used in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries for tracking trade items in stores.

UPC-A consists of 12 numeric digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. It is also called UPC 12 and is very

similar to the EAN code. Along with the related EAN barcode, the UPC is the barcode mainly used for scanning of trade items at the point of sale, per GS1 specifications. UPC data structures are a component of GTINs and follow the global GS1 specification, which is based on international standards. But some retailers (clothing, furniture) do not use the GS1 system (rather other barcode symbologies or article number systems). On the other hand, some retailers use the EAN/UPC barcode symbology, but without using a GTIN (for products sold in their own stores only).

UPC-A is a subset of EAN-13; in reality, an UPC-A bar code is an EAN-13 bar code with the first EAN-13 number system

digit set to "0". This means that any hardware or software capable of reading EAN-13 is automatically capable of reading UPC-A.

NOTE: The UCC Council has announced that as of January 1, 2005, all products must be labeled with EAN-13. More

correctly said, all decoding and related database systems must be able to handle EAN-13 by this date. Thus when developing your system it is best to implement EAN-13. By implementiong EAN-13 you will automatically be implementing UPC-A, but will be ready when the transition to EAN-13 is complete at the beginning of 2005.

Formatting: UPC-A barcodes can be printed at various densities to accommodate a variety of printing and scanning

processes.The x-dimension for the UPC-A at the nominal size is 0.33 mm (0.013"). Nominal symbol height for UPC-A is 25.9 mm (1.02"). The bars forming the S (start), M (middle), and E (end) guard patterns, are extended downwards by 5 times x-dimension, with a resulting nominal symbol height of 27.55 mm (1.08"). This also applies to the bars of the first and last numerical digit of UPC-A barcode. UPC-A can be reduced or magnified anywhere from 80% to 200%.A quiet zone, with a width of at least 9 times the x-dimension, must be present on each side of the scannable area of the UPC-A barcode.

Numbering of UPC-A :

(10 possible values per left digit ^ 6 left digits) × (10 possible values per right digit ^ 5 right digits) = 100,000,000,000.

Check digit calculation:

The UPC includes a check digit to detect common data entry errors.
The UPC-A check digit may be calculated as follows:
Sum the digits at odd-numbered positions (first, third, fifth,..., eleventh).
Multiply the result by 3.
Add the digit sum at even-numbered positions (second, fourth, sixth,..., tenth) to the result.
Find the result modulo 10 (i.e. the remainder, when divided by 10) and call it M.
If M is zero, then the check digit is 0; otherwise the check digit is 10 − M.
For example, in a UPC-A barcode "03600029145x12", where x12 is the unknown check digit, x12 may be calculated by:
Sum the odd-numbered digits (0 + 6 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 5 = 14).
Multiply the result by 3 (14 × 3 = 42).
Add the even-numbered digits (42 + (3 + 0 + 0 + 9 + 4) = 58).
Find the result modulo 10 (58 mod 10 = 8 = M).
If M is not 0, subtract M from 10 (10 − M = 10 − 8 = 2).
Thus, the check digit x12 is 2.
UPC-A can detect 100% of single digit errors.

The UPC E code is a short version with 8 digits, always starting with a zero. To allow the use of UPC barcodes on

smaller packages, where a full 12-digit barcode may not fit, a 'zero-suppressedversion of UPC was developed, called UPC-E, in which the number system digit, all trailing zeros in the manufacturer code, and all leading zeros in the product code, are suppressed (omitted). UPC-E is a variation of UPC-A which allows for a more compact barcode by eliminating "extra" zeros. Since the resulting UPC-E barcode is about half the size as an UPC-A barcode, UPC-E is generally used on products with very small packaging where a full UPC-A barcode couldn't reasonably fit. UPC-E uses a rather convoluted, but quite effective, method of compressing out unnecessary zeros. Keep in mind that in UPC-A there are five characters for the manufacturer code and five characters for the product code. The trick is to reduce all 10 characters into just 6 characters.

This symbology differs from UPC-A in that it only uses a 6-digit code, does not use M (middle) guard pattern, and the E (end) guard pattern is formed as space-bar-space-bar-space-bar, i.e. UPC-E barcode follows the pattern SDDDDDDE. The way in which a 6-digit UPC-E relates to a 12-digit UPC-A, is determined by UPC-E numerical pattern and UPC-E parity pattern. It can only correspond to UPC-A number system 0 or 1, the value of which, along with the UPC-A check digit, determines the UPC-E parity pattern of the encoding. With the manufacturer code digits represented by X's, and product code digits by N's. For example, a UPC-E 654321 may correspond to the UPC-A 065100004327 or 165100004324, depending on the UPC-E parity pattern of the encoded digits.

UPC-A consists of 12 numeric digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. It is also called UPC 12 and is very similar to the EAN code. Along with the related EAN barcode, the UPC is the barcode mainly used for scanning of trade items at the point of sale, per GS1 specifications. UPC data structures are a component of GTINs and follow the global GS1 specification, which is based on international standards. But some retailers (clothing, furniture) do not use the GS1 system (rather other barcode symbologies or article number systems). On the other hand, some retailers use the EAN/UPC barcode symbology, but without using a GTIN (for products sold in their own stores only).

CONVERTING A UPC-A CODE TO UPC-E

If the manufacturer code ends in 000, 100, or 200, the UPC-E code consists of the first two characters of the manufacturer code, the last three characters of the product code, followed by the third character of the manufacturer code. The product code must be 00000 to 00999. If the manufacturer code ends in 00 but does not qualify for #1 above, the UPC-E code consists of the first three characters of the manufacturer code, the last two characters of the product code, followed by the digit "3". The product code must be 00000 to 00099. If the manufacturer code ends in 0 but does not quality for #1 or #2 above, the UPC-E code consists of the first four characters of the manufacturer code, the last character of the product code, followed by the digit "4". The product code must be 00000 to 00009. If the manufacturer code does not end in zero, the UPC-E code consists of the entire manufacturer code and the last digit of the product code. Note that the last digit of the product code must be in the range of 5 through 9. The product code must be 00005 to 00009.

Numbering of UPC-E :

(10 possible values per digit ^ 6 digits) × (2 possible parity patterns per UPC-E number) = 2,000,000.

Check digit calculation:

UPC-E doesn't have a check digit encoded explicity, rather the check digit is encoded in the parity of the other six characters. The check digit that is encoded is the check digit from the original UPC-A barcode.
Additionally, UPC-E may only be used if the number system is 0 or 1. The characters encoded are encoded with odd and even parity from the left-hand columns of the EAN-13 character formats in the table previously provided. The parity used for each character depends on the number system (0 or 1) and the check digit from the original UPC-A barcode.

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