UPC E

UPC-E

UPC-E is a compacted form of the UPC-A barcode symbology that usually carries a GTIN-12 that has been zero compressed.

Also known as: UPC-E0.

Uses:

• Retail products whose packaging is too small for a UPC-A.

Variants:

• UPC-E+2 is an extension of UPC-E that includes a two-digit add-on.
• UPC-E+5 is an extension of UPC-E that includes a five-digit add-on.
• UPC-A is the full size form of UPC-E.
• UPC-E Composite is a variant of UPC-E that should be used when a CC-A or CC-B GS1 Composite 2D component is required.
• UPC-E1 is a UPC-E with a number system of 1. This is not defined by any symbology standard.

Standards: ISO/IEC 15420, BS EN 797, GS1 General Specifications.

Data and Options

• The data field takes either seven or eight digits, optionally followed by a space then two or five digits if an EAN-2 or EAN-5 add-on is required.
• Alternatively, the data field may contain eleven or twelve digits of a UPC-A to produce the equivalent UPC-E symbol, provided that the input can be zero suppressed.
• If seven digits of primary data are supplied then the check digit is calculated automatically. Otherwise the provided check digit will be verified.
• The primary data must start with "0", or "1" for a UPC-E1.
• The includetext option should normally be supplied.
• The guarddescent option controls how far the guard bars extend below the data bars, in multiples of the X-dimension (default: 5).
• The addondescent option controls how far the add-on bars extend below the baseline, in multiples of the X-dimension (defaults to the value of guarddescent).

Examples

Identical symbols, input provided with and without a check digit:

Data:    01234558
Options: includetext
Encoder: upce

Data:    0123455
Options: includetext
Encoder: upce

A truncated symbol:

Data:    01234558
Options: includetext height=0.5
Encoder: upce