Free ISBN Barcode Generator — Create, Preview & Download Instantly

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a unique identifier assigned to every distinct edition and product form of a published book — hardcover, paperback, e-book, audiobook, and so on. ISBNs are issued by national ISBN agencies (in the US by Bowker, in the UK by Nielsen) and are required by virtually all commercial book distributors, major retailers, and library systems as a prerequisite for stocking, listing, and ordering a title. If you are publishing a book for commercial sale or library distribution, you need an ISBN. Self-published authors distributing exclusively through a single platform may be offered a free platform-assigned ISBN, but purchasing your own gives you full ownership and portability across all channels.

ISBN-10 was the original 10-digit format used for books published before January 2007. ISBN-13 is the current 13-digit format, introduced to expand the available number space and align with the EAN-13 barcode standard. All new ISBNs issued since 2007 are ISBN-13. ISBN-10 numbers can be converted to ISBN-13 by prepending the prefix 978 and recalculating the check digit using the EAN-13 Mod 10 algorithm. This generator accepts both formats and converts ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 automatically. Retail barcodes must always be printed in ISBN-13 / EAN-13 format.

The ISBN-13 check digit uses the standard EAN-13 Mod 10 weighted algorithm. Starting from the leftmost digit, alternate weights of 1 and 3 are multiplied against each of the first 12 digits. The sum of those products is computed; the check digit is the value that makes the total a multiple of 10. For example, if the sum of the weighted digits is 83, the check digit is 7 (since 83 + 7 = 90). This generator calculates the check digit automatically — enter your 12-digit ISBN base and the correct 13th digit is computed and appended. If you enter all 13 digits, the check digit is validated and any error is flagged immediately.

The EAN-5 supplement is an optional five-digit barcode printed to the right of the main ISBN-13 barcode on book covers, primarily in North America. It encodes a suggested retail price: the first digit indicates currency (5 = US dollars, 6 = Canadian dollars, 9 = no price stated), followed by a four-digit price in cents (e.g., 51995 encodes USD $19.95, and 90000 indicates no price). The EAN-5 is purely supplementary — the book's identity is fully encoded in the main ISBN-13 barcode. Point-of-sale systems that support EAN-5 can capture both the ISBN and the price from a single scan; systems that do not simply read the main barcode and ignore the supplement.

ISBN barcodes are encoded as EAN-13 — the same linear 1D barcode format used on retail consumer goods worldwide. The GS1 prefix group 978 (and expanding 979) is reserved for books under the Bookland system. Because the symbology is standard EAN-13, no special scanner hardware or software configuration is required — any POS terminal, library barcode scanner, or smartphone barcode app that reads EAN-13 can read an ISBN barcode. The optional EAN-5 price supplement uses the EAN-5 supplemental barcode format, appended to the right of the main EAN-13 symbol.

GS1 guidelines specify a nominal X-dimension (module width) of 0.33mm for ISBN barcodes at 100% magnification, producing a barcode approximately 37.29mm wide and 25.9mm tall excluding quiet zones — the standard size on trade paperbacks. The allowed magnification range is 80%–200% of nominal. For smaller books or crowded cover layouts, the barcode may be reduced to 80% magnification; going below this risks scan failures on retail scanners. When downloading as SVG from this generator, the barcode is resolution-independent and can be scaled precisely to any required magnification in your design software.

ISBNs are assigned by national ISBN agencies. In the United States, Bowker (myidentifiers.com) is the sole official ISBN agency; in the United Kingdom, Nielsen issues ISBNs; most other countries have their own national agency listed on the International ISBN Agency website. You purchase a single ISBN or a block of 10, 100, or 1000 depending on your publishing volume. Each distinct product form of your book — hardcover, paperback, e-book, audiobook — requires its own ISBN. This generator handles barcode creation once you have your ISBN number; obtaining the number itself requires registration with your national agency.

Yes. All ISBN validation, ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 conversion, check digit calculation, and EAN-13 barcode encoding are performed entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your ISBN numbers and publication data are never transmitted to any server and never stored anywhere. Close the browser tab and all data is gone. This tool is safe to use with unpublished ISBNs prior to your book's official release date.