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Code 128 Barcode Font User Manual

Code 128 Barcode Font Overview

Code 128 Barcode Fonts encode numbers, symbols, uppercase and lowercase text as well as functions such as returns and tabs. All Code 128 barcode fonts require a start character, checksum character, and a stop character to create readable barcodes. Due to the required calculation of a checksum, implementation of Code 128 as a barcode font may be difficult without IDAutomation's Font Encoder Tools. If an easier-to-use barcode font is preferred and Code 128 is not required, consider IDAutomation's Code 39 Barcode Font, which does not require checksums to be calculated. IDAutomation also provides several barcode components that enable an easier implementation due to their ability to automatically calculate checksums and completely format the barcode.

Code 128 Barcode Font Character Set

Three different start characters are used in Code 128 barcodes to tell the barcode reader which character set is being used. The table below illustrates the three character sets in columns with the location of the characters. In the columns A, B and C, is the list of characters or functions that the barcode scanner will read for the associated symbol. The columns ASCII, Char and Unicode are unique to IDAutomation Code 128 Barcode Fonts. These columns designate the location in either ASCII or Unicode where the barcode symbol for the character resides in the font. The Char column lists the character that resides at the ASCII location, which can be used to print the corresponding symbol. The character set provides easy methods of encoding functions in barcodes such as returns and tabs.

Code A	Code B	Code C	ASCII*	Unicode*	Char*	Value	Code A	Code B	Code C	ASCII*	Unicode*	Char*	Value
Space	Space	00	0194	00C2	Â	00	V	V	54	0086	0056	V	54
!	!	01	0033	0021	!	01	W	W	55	0087	0057	W	55
"	"	02	0034	0022	"	02	X	X	56	0088	0058	X	56
#	#	03	0035	0023	#	03	Y	Y	57	0089	0059	Y	57
$	$	04	0036	0024	$	04	Z	Z	58	0090	005A	Z	58
%	%	05	0037	0025	%	05	[	[	59	0091	005B	[	59
&	&	06	0038	0026	&	06	\	\	60	0092	005C	\	60
'	'	07	0039	0027	'	07	]	]	61	0093	005D	]	61
(	(	08	0040	0028	(	08	^	^	62	0094	005E	^	62
)	)	09	0041	0029	)	09	_	_	63	0095	005F	_	63
*	*	10	0042	002A	*	10	nul	`	64	0096	0060	`	64
+	+	11	0043	002B	+	11	soh	a	65	0097	0061	a	65
,	,	12	0044	002C	,	12	stx	b	66	0098	0062	b	66
-	-	13	0045	002D	-	13	etx	c	67	0099	0063	c	67
.	.	14	0046	002E	.	14	eot	d	68	0100	0064	d	68
/	/	15	0047	002F	/	15	eno	e	69	0101	0065	e	69
0	0	16	0048	0030	0	16	ack	f	70	0102	0066	f	70
1	1	17	0049	0031	1	17	bel	g	71	0103	0067	g	71
2	2	18	0050	0032	2	18	bs	h	72	0104	0068	h	72
3	3	19	0051	0033	3	19	ht	i	73	0105	0069	i	73
4	4	20	0052	0034	4	20	lf	j	74	0106	006A	j	74
5	5	21	0053	0035	5	21	vt	k	75	0107	006B	k	75
6	6	22	0054	0036	6	22	ff	l	76	0108	006C	l	76
7	7	23	0055	0037	7	23	cr	m	77	0109	006D	m	77
8	8	24	0056	0038	8	24	s0	n	78	0110	006E	n	78
9	9	25	0057	0039	9	25	s1	o	79	0111	006F	o	79
:	:	26	0058	003A	:	26	dle	p	80	0112	0070	p	80
;	;	27	0059	003B	;	27	dc1	q	81	0113	0071	q	81
<	<	28	0060	003C	<	28	dc2	r	82	0114	0072	r	82
=	=	29	0061	003D	=	29	dc3	s	83	0115	0073	s	83
>	>	30	0062	003E	>	30	dc4	t	84	0116	0074	t	84
?	?	31	0063	003F	?	31	nak	u	85	0117	0075	u	85
@	@	32	0064	0040	@	32	syn	v	86	0118	0076	v	86
A	A	33	0065	0041	A	33	etb	w	87	0119	0077	w	87
B	B	34	0066	0042	B	34	can	x	88	0120	0078	x	88
C	C	35	0067	0043	C	35	em	y	89	0121	0079	y	89
D	D	36	0068	0044	D	36	sub	z	90	0122	007A	z	90
E	E	37	0069	0045	E	37	esc	{	91	0123	007B	{	91
F	F	38	0070	0046	F	38	fs	\|	92	0124	007C	\|	92
G	G	39	0071	0047	G	39	gs	}	93	0125	007D	}	93
H	H	40	0072	0048	H	40	rs	~	94	0126	007E	~	94
I	I	41	0073	0049	I	41	us	del	95	0195	00C3	Ã	95
J	J	42	0074	004A	J	42	fnc 3	fnc 3	96	0196	00C4	Ä	96
K	K	43	0075	004B	K	43	fnc 2	fnc2	97	0197	00C5	Å	97
L	L	44	0076	004C	L	44	Shift	Shift	98	0198	00C6	Æ	98
M	M	45	0077	004D	M	45	code C	code C	99	0199	00C7	Ç	99
N	N	46	0078	004E	N	46	code B	fnc 4	code B	0200	00C8	È	100
O	O	47	0079	004F	O	47	fnc 4	code A	code A	0201	00C9	É	101
P	P	48	0080	0050	P	48	fnc 1	fnc 1	fnc 1	0202	00CA	Ê	102
Q	Q	49	0081	0051	Q	49	Start A	Start A	Start A	0203	00CB	Ë	103
R	R	50	0082	0052	R	50	Start B	Start B	Start B	0204	00CC	Ì	104
S	S	51	0083	0053	S	51	Start C	Start C	Start C	0205	00CD	Í	105
T	T	52	0084	0054	T	52	Stop	Stop	Stop	0206	00CE	Î
U	U	53	0085	0055	U	53

* It is necessary to print the Code 128 barcode space character from ASCII 194 instead of ASCII 32 because Windows cannot print a symbol instead of a space character from Visual Basic and most other development environments. Macintosh systems should print the Code128 barcode font from Unicode locations if possible because the extended characters map to different characters than what is displayed on the "Char" column in MAC Roman encoding.

* If the system regional setting is not set to "English" or the 1252 Latin-1 code page, the Code 128 fonts support the following additional code pages in Windows: 1250 European, 1251 Cyrillic, 1253 Greek, 1254 Turkish, 1255 Hebrew and 1256 Arabic. For a font that works in any operating system, code page and locale, IDAutomation offers the Universal Barcode Font Package which creates Code 128 and many other barcode types from a single font.

* The columns ASCII, Char and Unicode are unique to IDAutomation's Code 128 Barcode Fonts.

Manual Check Character Calculation

The data must be encoded prior to applying the font. IDAutomation provides font encoder tools and source code samples that are free to use with IDAutomation fonts, which will automatically format the start, stop and check characters to the barcode fonts. Therefore, manual check digit calculations are usually not necessary.

The check character is positioned after the data characters and just before the stop character. To determine the value of the check character:

Reference the table above to obtain the value of the start character and all data characters.
Assign a weighting to each data character (not the start character, just the data characters.) The weighting starts at 1 and increases by one for each data character.
Multiply the character values by their weights for the data characters.
Add these all together including the start character, divide by 103 and obtain the remainder.
Use the table above to locate the character that has the value of the remainder; use this as the check character.

Calculating Code 128 Character Set A or B

The following table is an example of how to obtain the check character for the data "biz" using Code 128 character set B.

	Start B	b	i	z	STOP
weighting		1	2	3
values	104	66	73	90
totals	104	66	146	270

Calculate Total: 104 + (66*1) + (73*2) + (90*3) = 586
Calculate Checksum: 586 divided by 103 = 5 remainder of 71. Check digit = value of 71. The character to print for the value of 71 is "g" or ASCII 103.

To print extended ASCII characters from a keyboard that does not the have keys defined, use the ALT+<xxxx> key combination where xxxx equals the character's ASCII location in 4 digits. For example, to type ASCII character 104 into Microsoft Word, select the font in Word, press the ALT key and while holding it down type 0104 on the keypad of the keyboard. Four digits must be entered with the keypad only.

Therefore to print the data "biz" as a barcode, type: ALT 0204, b, i, z, g, ALT 0206 or ÌbizgÎ.

Calculating Code 128 Character Set C

The following table is an example of how to obtain the check character for "667390" using Code 128 character set C:

First, interleave the numbers into pairs and then choose the appropriate character that represents the number pair from the Code 128 Character Set.

	Start C	66	73	90	STOP
weighting		1	2	3
values	105	66	73	90
totals	105	66	146	270

Calculate the Total:
105 + (66*1) + (73*2) + (90*3) = 587
Calculate the Checksum:
587 divided by 103 = 5 remainder of 72. Check digit = value of 72.
The character to print for the value of 72 is ASCII 104.

Therefore to print the data "667390" as a barcode, you would need to type: ALT 0205, b, i, z, h, ALT 0206 or ÍbizhÎ.

Switching Between Code 128 Character Sets

It is possible to switch between character sets in a single Code 128 barcode. Although character set B can encode text and numbers, it may be necessary to switch to set A to encode a function such as a tab or carriage return.

The following table is an example of how to encode the data "biz" using Code 128 character set B with a switch to character set A for a carriage return function:

	Start B	b	i	z	É	m	STOP
weighting		1	2	3	4	5
values	104	66	73	90	101	77
totals	104	66	146	270	404	385

Calculate Total: 104 + (66*1) + (73*2) + (90*3) + (101*4) + (77*5) = 1375
Calculate Checksum: 1375 divided by 103 = 13 remainder of 36. Check digit = value of 36. The character to print for the value of 36 is "D" or ASCII 68.

This type of switching between character sets is also compatible with IDAutomation's free font encoder tools. For example, specify the data bizÉm ( É is the switch to set A and m is the function according to the chart) as the input for the Code 128 B function, the data ÌbizÉmDÎ would be returned which would perform the switch to set A and the function of a return when printed with IDAutomation's font and scanned by a barcode scanner.

Calculating Check Digits For GS1-128 (formerly UCC128 and EAN128)

The FNC1 in the GS1-128 barcode is treated as any another character. This example demonstrates how to calculate (00)1234(15)12 which would be encoded as Ê001234Ê1512 in IDAutomation's font encoder tools. More information about creating GS1-128, UCC-128 and EAN-128 barcodes is provided in the Code 128 Barcode FAQ and Tutorial.

	Start C	FNC1	00	12	34	FNC1	15	12	STOP
weighting		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
values	105	102	00	12	34	102	15	12
totals	105	102	00	36	136	510	90	84

Add up totals: = 1063
Calculate Checksum: 1063 divided by 103 = 10 remainder of 33. Check digit = value of 33.

Therefore, the following text is needed to create the barcode from the font: ÍÊÂ,BÊ/,AÎ

Code 128 Barcode Font Specifications

The X dimension (X is the width of the narrow bar) is listed below for various point sizes in millimeters and mils. 1 mil is equal to 1/1000 of an inch. IDAutomation's Code 128 barcode fonts have been specially designed to be able to produce dependable barcodes when printed at large and small point sizes. The Code 128 font may be printed as small as 4 points if the scanner is capable reading it. IDAutomation's Code 128 fonts are reliably read with the IDAutomation USB Barcode Scanner at point sizes of 6 to 48 points.

Point Size	Approximate X dimension (1 mil = .001")
48	.102 cm	40 mil
36	.076 cm	30 mil
32	.069 cm	27 mil
30	.064 cm	25 mil
28	.058 cm	23 mil
24	.051 cm	20 mil
20	.043 cm	17 mil
18	.038 cm	15 mil
16	.033 cm	13 mil
12	.025 cm	10 mil
8	.018 cm	7 mil
6	.013 cm	5 mil
* To print at a different X dimension, find the point size that has the X dimension closest to what is needed and use the formula below to find the point size needed: 12 * (X dimension needed) / (X dimension at 12 points) = (point size) For example, to obtain an X dimension of 12 mils, the point size should be 14: 12 * 12 / 10 = 14

When using a printer with less than 600 DPI, print at the following point sizes to create accurate barcodes:

203 DPI Printer (thermal printer)	300 DPI Printer
6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36	4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36

Eighteen different versions of the Code 128 barcode fonts are provided to support human readable versions and different width and height requirements. Fonts with the letter "H" in the font name are human-readable versions. The last characters in the Code 128 barcode font name determine the height of the barcode with the shortest being "XS" and the tallest being "XXL". Because each single font may be printed at various point sizes, there are several combinations of heights and widths that may be produced.

Purchased Font Name	Evaluation Font Name*	Font Height at 12pts*
Code 128 Fonts (no text below barcode)
IDAutomationC128XXS	IDAutomationSC128XXS	.10" or .254 CM
IDAutomationC128XS	IDAutomationSC128XS	.20" or .508 CM
IDAutomationC128S	IDAutomationSC128S	.35" or .889 CM
IDAutomationC128M	IDAutomationSC128M	.50" or 1.27 CM
IDAutomationC128L	IDAutomationSC128L	.60" or 1.46 CM
IDAutomationC128XL	IDAutomationSC128XL	.75" or 1.90 CM
IDAutomationC128XXL	IDAutomationSC128XXL	1" or 2.54 CM
Code 128 Fonts "Character set B" (text below barcode:**)
IDAutomationHbC128XS	NA	.20" or .508 CM
IDAutomationHbC128S	NA	.35" or .889 CM
IDAutomationHbC128M	IDAutomationSHbC128M	.50" or 1.27 CM
IDAutomationHbC128L	NA	.60" or 1.46 CM
IDAutomationHbC128XL	NA	.75" or 1.90 CM
IDAutomationHbC128XXL	NA	1" or 2.54 CM
Code 128 Fonts "Character set C" (text below barcode:**)
IDAutomationHcC128XS	NA	.20" or .508 CM
IDAutomationHcC128S	NA	.35" or .889 CM
IDAutomationHcC128M	IDAutomationSHcC128M	.50" or 1.27 CM
IDAutomationHcC128L	NA	.60" or 1.46 CM
IDAutomationHcC128XL	NA	.75" or 1.90 CM
IDAutomationHcC128XXL	NA	1" or 2.54 CM
* Measurements are approximate and were measured when printed at 12 points, which should work for most scanners. Measurements for Human Readable fonts do not include the text below. To print at a different height, find the font that has the height closest to what is needed and use the following formula to find the point size that is needed: 12 * (height you want) / (height at 12 points) = (point size converted to integer) For example, if using IDAutomationC128M and the height is to be .75", it should be printed at 18 points: 12 * .75 / .5 = 18 ** The human-readable versions also work with IDAutomation's font encoder tools. However, they are not normally used because the Code 128 symbology MOD103 check digit is usually displayed in the result. Human readable versions are often used for testing purposes or when it is not a problem to have the symbology check digit displayed. To print the human-readable data without the check digit, use the fonts beginning in IDAutomationC128 and print the data encoded as text below or above the barcode. The XXS size is not available in the human readable versions because of size limitations.

Code 128 Barcode Font Names Prior to July, 2003

Purchased Font Name	Evaluation Font Name*	Font Height at 12pts*
Code 128 Fonts (no text below barcode)
AdvC128a	sAdC128a	1/16" (.078") or .2 cm
AdvC128b	sAdC128b	1/8" (.125") or .4 cm
AdvC128c	sAdC128c	1/4" (.25") or .6 cm
AdvC128d	sAdC128d	1/2" (.5") or 1.1 cm
AdvC128e	sAdC128e	5/8" (.625") or 1.6 cm
AdvC128f	sAdC128f	1" or 2.5 cm
Code 128 Fonts "Character set B" (text below the barcode:**)
C128bHa	NA	1/16" (.078") or .2 cm
C128bHb	NA	1/8" (.125") or .4 cm
C128bHc	sC128bHc	1/4" (.25") or .6 cm
C128bHd	NA	1/2" (.5") or 1.1 cm
C128bHe	NA	5/8" (.625") or 1.6 cm
C128bHf	NA	1" or 2.5 cm
Code 128 Fonts "Character set C" (text below barcode:**)
C128cHa	NA	1/16" (.078") or .2 cm
C128cHb	NA	1/8" (.125") or .4 cm
C128cHc	sC128cHc	1/4" (.25") or .6 cm
C128cHd	NA	1/2" (.5") or 1.1 cm
C128cHe	NA	5/8" (.625") or 1.6 cm
C128cHf	NA	1" or 2.5 cm

If assistance is needed, please contact IDAutomation.

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