ISBN barcode generator

Do you need this?

If you print a paperback only on KDP, probably not. KDP's barcode help page says it adds a barcode to your back cover at no cost when you do not supply one, and covers with images or text in that spot are rejected, so leave it empty. KDP asks for at least 0.25 in between the barcode and the spine or trim.

You do need it if you use an offset printer, if a bookstore or distributor wants the price in the barcode, or if your cover designer builds an IngramSpark cover without IngramSpark's own cover template. IngramSpark's file creation guide says barcodes are mandatory on all covers and that its cover templates already carry one, which you can move on the back cover but should not resize. A barcode you make yourself must be 100 percent black on a white box, IngramSpark adds or replaces one that does not scan or is wrong, and if you supply none you leave an area at least 1.75 in wide and 1 in high.

If you supply your own for KDP, the page says it must be sharp, 100 percent black on a solid white background, right-side up and square to the cover, kept as its own image rather than flattened into the cover picture, vector if you can or 300 PPI as a picture, and the ISBN must match the one in your KDP book details exactly. KDP's suggested size is 2 x 1.2 in and the smallest it takes is 1.4 x 0.8 in. A price code must match your list price.

The price code is optional. The US book trade guidance from BISG says to use 90000 if you are not encoding a price, and a leading 5 followed by four digits for a US price from 0.01 to 99.98. BookNet Canada says a leading 6 means a Canadian price, though it is not widely used. A price code that disagrees with your list price is worse than none, so if you are unsure, leave it off or use 90000.

How this is made. The digit patterns, guard bars and quiet zones follow the GS1 General Specifications for EAN-13 and its 5-digit add-on. It is pure black on white. The digits are drawn as lines, so the SVG needs no font. Even so, run a proof copy and ask your printer to check the barcode, because a wrong one costs a reprint. Sources checked on 14-Nov-26; the printers can change their rules.

An ISBN-10 is converted by putting 978 in front and working out the new last digit. A 979 ISBN has no ISBN-10 form.

More free tools: the self-publishing cost calculator, the book page count calculator, the KDP keyword box checker, the KDP book description formatter, the KDP cover size and spine width calculator, the KDP royalty and print cost calculator and the book sales calculator. See all the free tools.