^B8
EAN-8 Bar CodePreview: partialThe short EAN, for products too small to carry a full EAN-13: seven digits plus a check digit.
Syntax
^B8o,h,f,gParameters
| Parameter | Description and accepted values | If omitted |
|---|---|---|
| o | Rotation of the bar code on the label.N normal, R 90°, I 180°, B 270° | Last ^FW value, else N |
| h | Bar height in dots.1 to 32000 dots | Height set by ^BY |
| f | Prints the digits underneath the bars as text.Y or N — print the human-readable line | Y |
| g | Moves those digits above the bars instead.Y or N — put that line above the bars | N |
How it works
^B8 prints EAN-8, the compressed retail symbology used on packs where an EAN-13 physically does not fit — single sachets, small cosmetics, confectionery.
It encodes 7 digits plus a check digit the printer calculates, in a fixed 67 modules. That is about 30% narrower than an EAN-13, which is the whole point of it.
EAN-8 numbers are not shortened EAN-13s: they are issued separately by the numbering authority, precisely because there is no way to derive one from the other. Truncating a 13-digit code to eight digits produces a bar code that scans and identifies the wrong product, or nothing at all.
Example
^XA
^BY3
^FO60,50^B8N,80,Y,N^FD96385074^FS
^XZRendering…
How the preview on this site handles it
Drawn with a real EAN-8 encoder, rotation included; anything other than 7 or 8 digits is drawn as a hatched red box. As with EAN-13, the guard bars are not extended below the symbol.
Common mistakes
- Deriving an EAN-8 from an EAN-13 by cutting digits. They are separate allocations — the result identifies something else.
- Using EAN-8 to save space on a shipping label. It is a retail symbology; a shipping label wants Code 128 or GS1-128.
- Forgetting that the eighth digit is the check digit, and sending eight digits of data.