ISSN Magazine Barcodes
International Standard Serial Numbers are the numbers allocated to all periodical publications such as magazines or journals. These numbers are applied for through an international organisation that allocates all ISSN numbers. If already have an ISSN number, then you can purchase the barcode images for this here. If you require an ISSN Number, they can be applied for here.
Before purchasing your ISSN barcode, you may wish to consider which format you want your ISSN Barcode to be.
ISSN Barcodes come in 3 main formats:
1. The 8-digit ISSN number is converted to a 13-digit number by adding a 977 to the beginning, taking away the check digit, adding two numbers (00) to the end and recalculating the check digit. The number is then created as an image using EAN-13 Symbology which can easily be read by all barcode scanners and is essentially the same as other products with EAN-13 barcodes on them that go into stores. In this case, the same number would be printed on each issue of the magazine.
2. Again the 8 digit ISSN number is converted to a 13-digit number, however this time the ’00’ added on the end is changed various times to create a different EAN-13 image each time. In this case, a separate barcode image would be created for each issue of the magazine.
3. The final format involves converting the ISSN number in exactly the same way as option one, however in this case an additional 2-digit supplement code is added to the end creating a 15-digit (EAN-13+2) number. The supplement changes for each issue and can be done on a monthly (01-12) or weekly (01-52) basis (or any other way you wish).
In the UK the 13+2 format (option 3) is the most common. Other countries tend more towards the 13-digit formats (options 1 and 2). It is a good idea to check the stores in which you are hoping to stock your magazine to establish which format is the most common.
It should be noted that options 2 and 3 involve creating multiple images for the ISSN number and hence are more expensive.
If you have a book and require barcodes for this, please see our book barcodes section.
Look here for CD barcodes and DVD barcodes.