ISBN barcodes for books

ISBN vs barcode: what you buy, what you make

By Marko Markovic, prepress specialist · Updated 10 October 2026 · 4 min read

Two different things with one number

Authors often meet both words on the same checkout page, which makes it look as if they were two products. They are not on the same level.

What the ISBN does

The ISBN standard (ISO 2108) and the ISBN Users' Manual describe the ISBN as an identifier for each separately available edition or product form of a book from a publisher. In practice that means:

• your paperback and your hardcover each get their own ISBN, and so does an eBook if it has one;
• a new edition with substantial changes gets a new ISBN;
• an unchanged reprint, or one with only corrected misprints, keeps the same one.

When you register the ISBN you also register its metadata: title, contributor, format, publisher name. That record is what booksellers and libraries see. If you use the free ISBN some platforms offer, the platform's name or a generic label may appear as publisher. For example, KDP says its free ISBN shows "Independently published" as the imprint and can be used only on KDP.

What the barcode does

The barcode lets a scanner read the ISBN in a fraction of a second. Since the 13-digit ISBN is also a valid EAN-13 number with the 978 or 979 prefix, the barcode is a standard EAN-13 symbol. It carries:

• the 13 digits of the ISBN;
• optionally a five-digit price add-on (EAN-5), such as 51999 for US$19.99, or 90000 for no encoded price.

It does not carry your title, author, publisher, or any link to a database. A shop's system looks up the scanned number in its own catalog, which is fed by your distributor.

So what do you actually need to buy?

• The ISBN: yes, unless your country's agency gives them free (Canada does, for eligible Canadian publishers) or you accept a platform's free ISBN with its limits. See where to get an ISBN.
• The barcode: no. Agencies and resellers sometimes sell barcodes as an add-on. There is nothing wrong with buying one, but a correct barcode made from your ISBN is the same thing. What matters is that it is correct and print-ready: vector, 100% black, the right size, with the right price code.

Do I even need a barcode?

For a printed book sold through shops or online retailers, yes, the back cover needs one. Both large print-on-demand platforms will add one for you if you leave the space empty: KDP places a barcode in a 2.0 x 1.2 in white box in the lower right of the back cover, and IngramSpark's cover template comes with a barcode. Reasons to place your own anyway:

• you want the price add-on, or 90000, exactly as you choose;
• you print the same cover file with an offset printer too, and need the barcode in the file;
• you want to see it and check it before the platform covers part of your design.

An eBook never needs a barcode. Whether it needs an ISBN depends on the store: KDP says an ISBN is optional for eBooks.