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Barcodes

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Last modified: August 16, 2024

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The following guidelines are about how barcodes are created and the settings which should be used when using MBC4, our barcode software. For guidelines on where to place the FSC logo within the barcode area, please click here.

Standard barcode examples

UK

UK barcodes require only the 13 digit ISBN.

UK_Barcode

US/CAN

Where Canada uses the same edition as US,  the US barcode takes precedence and the add-on prefix should be 5.

Note: You can encode anything up to $99.98 with a “5” prefix.  A price of $99.99 cannot be encoded. (Simply because at the moment it still indicates any price greater than $99.98 despite the new expanded range of encoded prices.)
If you do not want a price encoded then you should use 90000.
A $150 book should read 15000 as per the example below, under Universal barcodes

US_barcode

Canada only

When  Canadian only edition exists, the barcode add-on prefix should be  6.

CAN_Barcode

Universal barcodes

When barcodes are shared between UK, US and Canada, create the barcode using the US specifications and put 5 as a prefix for the price, adding the price information for each country above the barcode.

Note: You can encode anything up to $99.98 with a “5” prefix.  A price of $99.99 cannot be encoded. (Simply because at the moment it still indicates any price greater than $99.98 despite the new expanded range of encoded prices.)
If you do not want a price encoded then you should use 90000.
A $150 book should read 15000 as per the example below.

Creation of barcodes in MBC4

Important note: DK is about to upgrade to Sonoma and currently MBC4’s export to PDF will not work with the new system. Once we have upgraded to Sonoma and until MBC4 have found a fix, please follow this workaround to create your barcodes:

  1. In MBC4, using the exact same settings as below, create the ISBN.
  2. Click on Save and it will save it as an .eps.
  3. Drag the .eps into Illustrator.
  4. Select all and set everything to Overprint.
  5. Go to Save as… and save as an Adobe PDF with the default settings as in this screengrab:

  6. Ignore the size of the artboard in Illustrator as when you import it into InDesign, it will not include that white space.
  7. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can Export it from MBC4 selecting the PDF option but it will actually save it as a .ps file on your desktop. You can then take that into Acrobat Distiller, drag it into the Distiller window without changing any of the settings, click OK and it will save it as a PDF. 

Specifications

The barcode is based on specifications from the Book Industry Study Group.

Sizes are as follows:

  • Before opening MBC4, make sure you activate the font OpticalBeta within FontExplorer > DK > For Barcodes Only > Optical Beta True Type. We select this font as it is one of the very few that MBC4 embeds when exporting the barcode as a PDF.
  • Open the MBC4 Preferences and make sure they are the same as in this screengrab (this is for version 4.7.4 of MBC4):
  • in the Settings menu, make sure they are set up as follows:
  • Once you have checked all these settings are correct, go to File > New > Barcode Selector.
  • In the Barcode Selector, choose:
    • ISBN 13 for UK
    • ISBN 13 + 5 for US
    • ISBN 13 + 5 for Canada
  • The 5 digit add-on is prefixed with 5 for the US or 6 for Canada only editions followed by the price. For prices of $99.99 and over, please us the code 59999. For prices less than $10, use a 0 after the prefix and before the price. eg 50899 for US$8.99. Where no price is specified or where only a UK price is available use a 90000 add-on code.

US Prefix5####
Canadian Prefix6####
Prices above $99.98#9999
Prices below $10.000###
Only UK price available90000

  • Click on Draw. See examples below for UK, US/CAN and Canadian only editions.

UK_Barcode_MBC4 US_Barcode_MBC4 CAN_Barcode_MBC4

  • Go to File > Export > PDF.
  • Once you have exported your barcode to PDF, delete or change illegal characters in the barcode name.
  • Barcode width must include a 5mm “quiet zone” on either side of bars.
  • The barcode should be positioned with the bottom of the bars at least 10mm from the bottom of the jacket.
  • The barcode should be positioned at least 10mm from the spine on PB, Flexi, and Board books and 15mm from the spine on PLCs (to ensure it is clear of the crease)
  • The barcode should always be coloured black with transparent background in MBC4 and on paper in InDesign.
  • The barcode should be placed in ‘picket fence’ orientation (see illustration above), and should not be rotated.
  • There should be no printed border around the barcode.
  • The ISBN (preceded by the letters ISBN), is to appear in 9 point or larger font, above the barcode (our barcoding software MBC4 does this by default).
  • The barcode must not be reduced once created. It is already set to 80% which is the minimum size and should therefore be imported at 100% within InDesign.

Printed in and Price information

For instructions about the above, their position and styling, please follow the FSC Guidelines available here.