How to translate a UPC-E barcode to the full UPC-A equivalent
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To translate a UPC-E barcode back to the full UPC-A number we need to know the 5-digit Manufacturer's Identification Number assigned by the Uniform Code Council. Scanners can perform this translation automatically by analyzing the parity pattern of the bars... not something one wants to do manually. Remember that only number system 0 can be used with UPC-E, so the full UPC-A barcode will always begin with a 0. The method of translating UPC-E back to UPC-A depends on the last 1, 2, or 3 digits of the Manufacturer's Identification Number:


xx000, xx100, or xx200
The available range of item numbers is from 00000 to 00999. The digits in positions 3, 4, and 5 of the UPC-E symbol represent the final 3 digits of the item number; the digits in positions 1, 2, and 6 represent the first 3 digits of the manufacturer's number. For example, here are UPC-E and UPC-A codes for manufacturer number 12200, item number 00001:

       


xx300, xx400, xx500, xx600, xx700, xx800, or xx900
The available range of item numbers is from 00000 to 00099. The digits in positions 4 and 5 of the UPC-E symbol represent the final 2 digits of the item number; the digits in positions 1, 2, and 3 represent the first 3 digits of the manufacturer's number; the digit in position 6 is always "3". For example, here are UPC-E and UPC-A codes for manufacturer number 12400, item number 00001:

       


xxx10, xxx20, xxx30, xxx40, xxx50, xxx60, xxx70, xxx80, or xxx90
The available range of item numbers is from 00000 to 00009. The digit in positions 5 of the UPC-E symbol represents the final digit of the item number; the digits in positions 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent the first 4 digits of the manufacturer's number; the digit in position 6 is always "4". For example, here are UPC-E and UPC-A codes for manufacturer number 12450, item number 00001:

       


xxxx1, xxxx2, xxxx3, xxxx4, xxxx5, xxxx6, xxxx7, xxxx8, xxxx9
The available range of item numbers is from 00005 to 00009. The digit in position 6 of the UPC-E symbol represents the final digit of the item number; the digits in positions 1-5 contain the entire 5-digit manufacturer's number. For example, here are UPC-E and UPC-A codes for manufacturer number 12457, item number 00001: