EN 13619:2002
(Main)Postal services - Mail item processing - Optical characteristics for processing letters
General Information
- Abstract
This document provides guidelines for printing addresses on mail items. These guidelines apply to addresses printed on mail items whose size is up to and including C5. It may also be applied to oversize items, commonly referred to as C5+. The address blocks covered are the addressee address block and the sender address block if they are both on the same side of the item. Otherwise, only the addressee address block is covered. Guidelines related to address lines are relevant for all lines in an address block.
- Status
- Published
- Publication Date
- 19-Nov-2002
- Technical Committee
- CEN/TC 320 - Transport - Logistics and services
- Drafting Committee
- CEN/TC 331/WG 3 - Automatic identification of items - Addresses
- Current Stage
- 9093 - Decision to confirm - Review Enquiry
- Start Date
- 27-Jun-2025
- Completion Date
- 17-Sep-2026
- Directive
- Not Harmonized2002/39/EC - Directive 2002/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 amending Directive 97/67/EC with regard to the further opening to competition of Community postal servicesOJ Ref: C, C 30 OJ Date: 05-Feb-2005
Harmonized Standard97/67/EC - Common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of serviceOJ Ref: C, C 30 OJ Date: 05-Feb-2005
Overview
EN 13619:2002 - published by CEN - defines optical characteristics for processing letters and provides practical guidelines for printing postal addresses to maximise machine and video readability. The standard applies primarily to mail items up to and including C5 size (and commonly to C5+ and flats) and covers the addressee address block and, when printed on the same side, the sender block. Its purpose is to help mailers and postal operators improve OCR performance and postal automation throughput by specifying controllable, measurable address attributes.
Key Topics
The standard organises guidance around address attributes that affect OCR readability and video-coding:
- Address zone & background
- Background colour and background noise
- Clear zone definition around the address block
- Address block attributes
- Address block size and skew
- Line spacing, characters per line and bar code placement
- Character attributes
- Fonts and typeface selection (including bold/condensed/expanded)
- Stroke thickness and type size
- Character and word spacing, character skew and character sets
- Colour, underlining and print quality
- Print Contrast Ratio (PCR) of address characters vs. background
- Salience levels
- Attributes are classified by salience (high/normal) to indicate relative importance for readability
- Guideline nature
- Recommendations are goal-oriented (to support current state-of-the-art OCR) rather than rigid prescriptions
Applications
EN 13619:2002 is practical for anyone involved in the design, production, handling and automated processing of mail:
- Mailers and bulk postal customers - to design address printing for high OCR yield
- Postal operators - to specify mail acceptance criteria and optimise sorting efficiency
- Envelope and label manufacturers - to choose appropriate materials and window designs
- Print houses and mail houses - for quality control and production setup
- OCR and postal automation vendors - to tune recognition systems and test cases
- Standards and procurement teams - to define service-level requirements and contract specifications
Practical outcomes include improved automated sorting rates, reduced manual video-coding, clearer supplier specifications and lower processing costs.
Related Standards
- CEN/TC 331 outputs on address components (Part I / Part II) - for logical content and formatting of address lines
- ISO guidance referenced for typography and measurement conventions
Keywords: EN 13619:2002, postal services, mail item processing, optical characteristics, address printing, OCR readability, postal automation, CEN standard.
Relations
- Referred By
CEN/TS 17217:2018 - Postal services - Reverse envelope - Design and printing requirements - Effective Date
- 28-Jan-2026
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Frequently Asked Questions
EN 13619:2002 is a standard published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). Its full title is "Postal services - Mail item processing - Optical characteristics for processing letters". This standard covers: This document provides guidelines for printing addresses on mail items. These guidelines apply to addresses printed on mail items whose size is up to and including C5. It may also be applied to oversize items, commonly referred to as C5+. The address blocks covered are the addressee address block and the sender address block if they are both on the same side of the item. Otherwise, only the addressee address block is covered. Guidelines related to address lines are relevant for all lines in an address block.
This document provides guidelines for printing addresses on mail items. These guidelines apply to addresses printed on mail items whose size is up to and including C5. It may also be applied to oversize items, commonly referred to as C5+. The address blocks covered are the addressee address block and the sender address block if they are both on the same side of the item. Otherwise, only the addressee address block is covered. Guidelines related to address lines are relevant for all lines in an address block.
EN 13619:2002 is classified under the following ICS (International Classification for Standards) categories: 03.240 - Postal services. The ICS classification helps identify the subject area and facilitates finding related standards.
EN 13619:2002 has the following relationships with other standards: It is inter standard links to CEN/TS 17217:2018. Understanding these relationships helps ensure you are using the most current and applicable version of the standard.
EN 13619:2002 is associated with the following European legislation: EU Directives/Regulations: 2002/39/EC, 97/67/EC; Standardization Mandates: M/240. When a standard is cited in the Official Journal of the European Union, products manufactured in conformity with it benefit from a presumption of conformity with the essential requirements of the corresponding EU directive or regulation.
EN 13619:2002 is available in PDF format for immediate download after purchase. The document can be added to your cart and obtained through the secure checkout process. Digital delivery ensures instant access to the complete standard document.
Standards Content (Sample)
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.Postal services - Mail item processing - Optical characteristics for processing lettersSRãLOMNServices postaux - Traitement des objets postaux - Caractéristiques optiques pour le traitement du courrierPostalische Dienstleistungen - Bearbeitung von Sendungen - Optische Merkmale für die BriefbearbeitungTa slovenski standard je istoveten z:EN 13619:2002SIST EN 13619:2004en03.240Poštne storitvePostal servicesICS:SLOVENSKI
STANDARDSIST EN 13619:200401-september-2004
EUROPEAN STANDARDNORME EUROPÉENNEEUROPÄISCHE NORMEN 13619November 2002ICS 03.240English versionPostal services - Mail item processing - Optical characteristicsfor processing lettersServices postaux - Traitement des objets postaux -Caractéristiques optiques pour le traitement du courrierPostalische Dienstleistungen - Bearbeitung von Sendungen- Optische Merkmale für die BriefbearbeitungThis European Standard was approved by CEN on 16 October 2002.CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this EuropeanStandard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such nationalstandards may be obtained on application to the Management Centre or to any CEN member.This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translationunder the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Management Centre has the same status as the officialversions.CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATIONCOMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATIONEUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNGManagement Centre: rue de Stassart, 36
B-1050 Brussels© 2002 CENAll rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reservedworldwide for CEN national Members.Ref. No. EN 13619:2002 E
1 See ISO 2692 Note that this standard does not define the logical content, in terms of address components, of each line. Nor does it directly impose limits onthe length of individual lines or components, or on how information is represented (e.g. as text and/or in computer readable bar codes). AddressComponents are covered in CEN/TC 331 WI 015 Part I; the selection and ordering of components for printing and the abbreviation rules whichmay be used to limit printed address line length, are to be addressed in Part II of that standard.
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