Free ISBN barcode generator for the back of your book

Do you need your own barcode for KDP?

You don’t need one. If you upload a cover without a barcode, KDP adds one to the back cover at no cost. Cover Creator, KDP’s free tool for designing covers, adds one too.

When KDP adds the barcode, keep text and pictures out of the lower right-hand corner of the back cover, where the barcode goes. KDP rejects a cover with images or text in that spot.

You need this tool only if you want to place the barcode yourself. You might do that to add a price code. You might also want to choose exactly where the barcode sits.

Where does the barcode go on the back of a book?

KDP prints its own barcode in a white box 2 in wide and 1.2 in tall (50.8 × 30.5 mm). The box sits in the lower right-hand corner of the back cover. For a book that reads from right to left, the barcode goes in the lower left-hand corner of the back cover instead.

If you place your own barcode, KDP asks you to keep it at least 0.25 in (6.3 mm) from the spine and the trim. The trim is the line where the printer cuts the cover to size. Place the barcode right side up and square to the edges of the cover. Don’t let any text overlap it.

What size and color does a KDP barcode need?

KDP suggests a barcode 2 in wide and 1.2 in tall. The smallest size it accepts is 1.4 × 0.8 in (35.56 × 20.3 mm).

The bars must be 100% black, which means black ink alone with no other ink mixed in. The background must be solid white. KDP doesn’t accept bars in RGB or CMYK color. RGB is the red, green, and blue light that screens mix. CMYK is the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink that color printers mix. KDP doesn’t accept registration black either. That’s a black printed with every ink at full strength, which printers use for the marks that show where to cut.

KDP prefers a vector file, such as this tool’s SVG. A vector file is made of shapes instead of pixels, which keeps it sharp at any size. For an image made of pixels, such as a PNG, KDP asks for 300 PPI, which means 300 pixels per inch. This tool’s PNG has 1200 pixels per inch, four times what KDP asks for.

This tool never cuts the bars shorter to fit a small box. It shrinks the whole barcode instead, which keeps its shape. Near KDP’s smallest size, the bars come out smaller than GS1 allows. GS1 is the group that sets the rules for store barcodes. The tool warns you when that happens.

Do hardcover barcodes follow different rules?

They do, and KDP’s help pages don’t agree with each other. The main barcode page suggests 2 × 1.2 in. It accepts sizes down to 1.4 × 0.8 in. It asks for 0.25 in of space from the spine and the trim.

The hardcover cover page says your barcode needs to be 2 in wide and 1.2 in high, at 300 DPI. DPI means dots per inch, the number of printed dots in each inch. The page asks for at least 0.76 in (19 mm) between the barcode and the bottom of the cover. It also asks for at least 0.25 in (6 mm) between the barcode and the spine hinge. The spine hinge is the strip beside the spine that bends when the book opens.

KDP says it replaces a hardcover barcode that doesn’t meet these rules. For a hardcover, keep this tool’s size of 2 × 1.2 in and follow the hardcover page.

What does the five-digit price code mean?

The price code is the small barcode to the right of the main one. It’s also called the price add-on. It holds five digits.

In the US book trade, a first digit of 5 means US dollars. The other four digits are the price without its dollar sign and decimal point. For example, 51995 means $19.95, and 50799 means $7.99.

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) writes the barcode guidelines for US books. Its rules put prices from $100.00 to $499.99 in the code as 10000 to 49999, with no 5 in front. The code can’t hold $99.99, because BISG keeps 59999 for a price above $99.98 that the barcode doesn’t show. It can’t hold a price above $499.99 either. For those prices, BISG recommends 90000.

A first digit of 6 is set aside for Canadian dollars. BookNet Canada, a nonprofit that serves the Canadian book trade, says this code isn’t widely used in Canada. For other currencies, type the five digits your distributor asks for. A distributor is a company that sells your book to stores.

If you include a price code, KDP says it should match your book’s list price. That’s the price you set for your book on KDP.

When should you use the price code 90000?

Use 90000 when you want a price code without a price in it. BISG lists 90000 as “No cover price or no price encoded.” It recommends 90000 when a publisher doesn’t put the US price in the barcode or the book has no price on its cover. Some booksellers want a price code on every book they stock. The code 90000 gives them one without a price.

A price in the barcode is printed on every copy. If you change your list price later, you need a new cover file to keep the barcode and the list price the same. KDP’s barcode page doesn’t mention 90000. It says only that a price code should match your list price if you include one.

What is the difference between ISBN-10 and ISBN-13?

Since 2007, every new ISBN has 13 digits and starts with 978 or 979. That’s an ISBN-13. Books from before 2007 often show a 10-digit ISBN, called an ISBN-10.

To turn an ISBN-10 into an ISBN-13, drop its last digit or X. Put 978 in front. Then calculate a new last digit, called the check digit. This tool does all of that for you. For example, 0-306-40615-2 becomes 978-0-306-40615-7.

The check digit lets a computer catch a mistyped ISBN. To find it, multiply the first 12 digits by 1, 3, 1, 3, and so on. Then add up the results. The check digit is what it takes to reach the next number that ends in 0. When you type your ISBN, the tool shows this math with your own digits.

An ISBN that starts with 979 has no 10-digit form. The barcode always holds the 13-digit number. That number is also the book’s EAN-13, the kind of 13-digit product number that store barcodes hold around the world.

Can this tool create an ISBN?

It can’t. Only an ISBN agency can issue an ISBN. An ISBN agency is the official body that gives out ISBNs in a country. In the US, it’s Bowker. This tool only draws the barcode for an ISBN you already have.

KDP gives free ISBNs for paperbacks and hardcovers. You can use a free KDP ISBN only on KDP. You can also buy your own ISBN from your country’s ISBN agency.

Each format of a book needs its own ISBN, such as one for the paperback and one for the hardcover. That means each format needs its own barcode too.

How do you add the barcode to your cover?

Download the SVG or the PNG. Place it in your cover file as its own image, in the lower right-hand corner of the back cover. KDP asks you to keep the barcode as a separate image. Don’t merge it into your cover artwork as one picture. Place it at the size you chose, without stretching it.

Keep the white space around the bars free of other artwork. Scanners need this space, called the quiet zone, to find where the barcode starts and ends.

Check that your design app prints the barcode in black ink only. Some apps turn plain black into rich black when they convert a file to CMYK for printing. Rich black is black mixed with other inks, and KDP asks for 100% black instead.

Before you upload, scan the barcode on your screen with a barcode-scanning app on your phone. Check that it reads your ISBN. If KDP’s upload check can’t scan your barcode, KDP recommends removing it. KDP then adds a barcode for you.