Generate ISSN barcodes for serials and periodicals with the mod-11 check digit computed automatically. Free, instant PNG, nothing uploaded. Type → instant barcode · nothing is uploaded
The ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is the persistent identifier for magazines, journals, newspapers and other continuing publications — the serial world's counterpart to the book world's ISBN. Eight digits, conventionally written with a hyphen in the middle (0317-8471), where the first seven identify the title and the eighth is a check digit computed with a modulo-11 algorithm. That algorithm is why an ISSN can end in X: when the remainder calls for a check value of 10, the letter X stands in for it.
On a printed periodical, the ISSN usually travels inside an EAN-13 barcode with the 977 prefix (the 'serial' country of the EAN world), often with a two-digit supplement for the issue number. This generator produces the ISSN symbology itself from the digits you supply: enter the 7 significant digits and the check digit is computed and appended for you, or enter all 8 and it is verified first — a transposed digit is caught before it reaches your cover design.
ISSNs are assigned free of charge by national ISSN centres (coordinated by the ISSN International Centre in Paris) to any continuing publication, print or online. This page turns a number you already hold into the barcode image; it does not register new ISSNs.
The mod-11 algorithm produces a value from 0 to 10; when it is 10, the convention is to write X. It is a Roman numeral, not a letter — this generator shows it automatically when your digits call for it (try 0000006).
Multiply the seven digits by weights 8 down to 2, sum, and take the remainder modulo 11; the check digit is 11 minus that remainder (with 11 becoming 0 and 10 becoming X). Example: 0317847 gives 0+21+6+35+32+12+14 = 120, remainder 10, so the check digit is 1 — the full ISSN is 0317-8471.
The cover barcode is an EAN-13 that embeds the ISSN: prefix 977, the seven ISSN data digits, two extra digits (usually 00), and the EAN check digit. The ISSN itself is the 8-digit identifier underneath that packaging.
For a design mockup, any 7 digits plus the correct check digit will render a technically valid symbol. For a real publication, the number must come from your national ISSN centre — duplicates break cataloguing systems.
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