Supported Barcodes

This section provides basic information on the barcodes supported by PlanetPress Design, such as which characters are compatible with which barcodes, how many characters can be used in a given barcode, etc.

Australia Post

This barcode must begin with one of the following two digit Format Control Code (FCC) number:
11, 59, or 62.

The FCC number must be followed by eight (8) digits. These are mandatory to specify the destination. Additional characters may be used for the Customer Information Field. The number characters varies according to each FCC format:

Format 11: No extra characters.
Format 59: Up to 8 digits or 5 letters.
Format 62: Up to 15 digits or 10 letters.

Compatible characters for the Customer Information Field include:

Upper and lower case letters: a to z and A to Z.
Digits: 0 to 9.
Symbols: space and # (pound).

A checksum is automatically calculated.

Aztec

This barcode can be used to generate Normal, Compact or Full Aztec barcodes. This barcode supports the full ASCII character set and its maximum data capacity depends on the selected barcode type:

Normal barcode mode: Up to 3800 digits, or up to 3000 alphanumeric characters.
Compact barcode mode: Up to 58 digits, or up to 47 alphanumeric characters.
Full barcode mode: Up to 310 digits, or up to 250 alphanumeric characters.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Error correction levels correspond to the percentage the symbol that includes error checking data. Note that level 0 provides optimal error correction. Each barcode mode has its own value range (Normal mode values range from 0 to 99, Compact from 0 to 4; and Full from 0 to 32).

CEPNet (Brazilian Postal Code)

CEPNet is the equivalent of the PostNet barcode but is used in Brazil. It uses the same basic specifications as PostNet and thus looks graphically similar.

CEPNet accepts an 8-digit Brazilian postal code and will fail on any other data.

Codabar

This barcode must start with a Start character and end with a Stop character. Characters A, B, C and D can be used as Start and Stop characters.

For the remaining barcode data, the following characters may be used:

Digits: 0 to 9.
Symbols: - (hyphen), $(dollar),: (colon), / (slash),. (period), + (plus).

A checksum is automatically calculated.

CodablockF

This 2D barcode can currently only be used in documents that will be printed using either the Optimized Postscript or Windows Printing mode (printer centric mode will be added in a future release).

This barcode supports the full ASCII character set based on the 3 alphabets used in the Code128 barcode (see below). The switch between alphabets is done automatically. Special characters in the A alphabet are called with their ASCII value using the following syntax: ^nnn (such as ^010 for LineFeed).

A minimum of 3 characters is required in this barcode. The maximum string length for this barcode varies depending on the control characters used in the code. Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Code 11

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.
Symbol: - (hyphen).

A checksum is optional, but should be added to ensure data reliability. When the Checksum option is selected, the required checksum digits are added automatically.

For data with fewer than 10 characters, a single checksum digit is used.
For data with 10 characters or more, two checksum digits are used.

Code 16k

This 2D barcode can currently only be used in documents that will be printed using either the Optimized Postscript or Windows Printing mode (printer centric mode will be added in a future release).

This barcode supports the full ASCII character set based on the 3 alphabets used in the Code128 barcode (see below). A maximum of 5 characters per row over 16 rows is permitted. If the first 4 characters in the data are numeric, a 'SwitchC' character is automatically added before the data. Special characters within the data can be used to switch alphabets in the same way as with the Code 128 barcode.

The selected barcode mode determines the starting codeset and leading character:

Automatic: The codeset and leading character are selected automatically.
Mode 0: Selects codeset A.
Mode 1: Selects codeset B.
Mode 2: Selects codeset C.
Mode 3: Selects codeset B and sets the leading character to’Fnc1’.
Mode 4: Selects codeset C and sets the leading character to’Fnc1’.
Mode 5: Selects codeset C and sets the leading character to’Shift B’.
Mode 6: Selects codeset C and sets the leading characters to two successive’Shift B’ characters.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Code 39

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.
Upper case letters: A to Z.
Symbols: space, - (hyphen), $(dollar), / (slash), + (plus), % (percent), ,. (period).

To go beyond the 44 basic characters listed above, you may use extended ASCII characters (granted that scanners are programmed for this, otherwise extended characters will simply be read as basic characters).

To use extended characters, use the encoding listed in the following table:


Character	Encode as	Character	Encode as	Character	Encode as	Character	Encode as
NUL	%U	SP	Space	@	%V	`	%W
SOH	$A	!	/A	A	A	a	+A
STX	$B	“	/B	B	B	b	+B
ETX	$C	#	/C	C	C	c	+C
EOT	$D	$	/D	D	D	d	+D
ENQ	$E	%	/E	E	E	e	+E
ACK	$F	&	/F	F	F	f	+F
BEL	$G	'	/G	G	G	g	+G
BS	$H	(	/H	H	H	H	+H
HT	$I	)	/I	I	I	i	+I
LF	$J			J	J	j	+J
VT	$K	+	/K	K	K	k	+K
FF	$L	,	/L	L	L	l	+L
CR	$M	-	-	M	M	m	+M
SO	$N	.	.	N	N	n	+N
SI	$O	/	/O	O	O	o	+O
DLE	$P	0	0	P	P	p	+P
DC1	$Q	1	1	Q	Q	q	+Q
DC2	$R	2	2	R	R	r	+R
DC3	$S	3	3	S	S	s	+S
DC4	$T	4	4	T	T	t	+T
NAK	$U	5	5	U	U	u	+U
SYN	$V	6	6	V	V	v	+V
ETB	$W	7	7	W	W	w	+W
CAN	$X	8	8	X	X	x	+X
EM	$Y	9	9	Y	Y	y	+Y
SUB	$Z	:	/Z	Z	Z	z	+Z
ESC	%A	;	%F	[	%K	{	%P
FS	%B	<<	%G	\	%L	\|	%Q
GS	%C	=	%H	]	%M	}	%R
RS	%D	>	%I	^	%N	~	%S
YS	%E	?	%J	_	%O	DEL	%T,%X,%Y,%Z

A checksum is optional, but should be added to ensure data reliability.

Code 49

This 2D barcode can currently only be used in documents that will be printed using either the Optimized Postscript or Windows Printing mode (printer centric mode will be added in a future release).

The data for this barcode can include both numeric and alphanumeric characters. When only numbers are present in the data, the maximum number of characters is 82. When alphanumeric characters are present, the maximum is 50 characters.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Code 93

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.
Upper case letters: A to Z.
Symbols: space, - (hyphen), $(dollar), / (slash), + (plus),% (percent), * (star),. (period).

To use extended characters, use the encodings listed in the following table:


Character	Encode as	Character	Encode as	Character	Encode as	Character	Encode as
NUL	(%)U	SP	Space	@	(%)V	`	(%)W
SOH	($)A	!	(/)A	A	A	a	(+)A
STX	($)B	“	(/)B	B	B	b	(+)B
ETX	($)C	#	(/)C	C	C	c	(+)C
EOT	($)D	$	(/)D	D	D	d	(+)D
ENQ	($)E	%	(/)E	E	E	e	(+)E
ACK	($)F	&	(/)F	F	F	f	(+)F
BEL	($)G	'	(/)G	G	G	g	(+)G
BS	($)H	(	(/)H	H	H	H	(+)H
HT	($)I	)	(/)I	I	I	i	(+)I
LF	($)J	*	(/)J	J	J	j	(+)J
VT	($)K	+	(/)K	K	K	k	(+)K
FF	($)L	,	(/)L	L	L	l	(+)L
CR	($)M	-	-	M	M	m	(+)M
SO	($)N	.	.	N	N	n	(+)N
SI	($)O	/	(/)O	O	O	o	(+)O
DLE	($)P	0	0	P	P	p	(+)P
DC1	($)Q	1	1	Q	Q	q	(+)Q
DC2	($)R	2	2	R	R	r	(+)R
DC3	($)S	3	3	S	S	s	(+)S
DC4	($)T	4	4	T	T	t	(+)T
NAK	($)U	5	5	U	U	u	(+)U
SYN	($)V	6	6	V	V	v	(+)V
ETB	($)W	7	7	W	W	w	(+)W
CAN	($)X	8	8	X	X	x	(+)X
EM	($)Y	9	9	Y	Y	y	(+)Y
SUB	($)Z	:	(/)Z	Z	Z	z	(+)Z
ESC	(%)A	;	(%)F	[	(%)K	{	(%)P
FS	(%)B	<<	(%)G	\	(%)L	\|	(%)Q
GS	(%)C	=	(%)H	]	(%)M	}	(%)R
RS	(%)D	>	(%)I	^	(%)N	~	(%)S
YS	(%)E	?	(%)J	_	(%)O	DEL	(%)T, (%)X, (%)Y, (%)Z

A checksum is mandatory for this barcode (it is always added automatically).

Code 128

Code 128 uses 3 alphabets, each containing 106 characters:

Alphabet A contains no lower case characters but includes special characters, such as NUL, ACK and FF.
Alphabet B contains upper and lower case characters.
Alphabet C is used almost exclusively for double density numeric values, ranging from 00 to 99.

In the case of alphabet A, to enter the non-printable characters listed as ordinals 64 to 94 in the following table, you must use alphabet B equivalents (for the ACK character, for example, use character f).

The non-printable characters listed as ordinals 95 to 105 can be entered using their ordinal value preceded by ^. To enter FNC1, for example, you would enter ^102. To enter an actual ^ character, you would enter ^062.

Numeric values entered using alphabet C are always considered as digit pairs (0001, for example, for values 0 and 1). Only when you use alphabets A or B can you enter an odd number of digits (001, for example, for values 0, 0 and 1).

Having {} taken as a pair of characters to be converted into alphabet C will fail the job and result in a typecheck error.

The following table lists the characters that can be used in all three alphabets:


Ordinal	Value in alphabet			Encoding	Ordinal	Value in alphabet			Encoding
	A	B	C			A	B	C
00	SP	SP	00	11011001100	53	U	U	53	11011101110
01	!	!	01	11001101100	54	V	V	54	11101011000
02	“	“	02	11001100110	55	W	W	55	11101000110
03	#	#	03	10010011000	56	X	X	56	11100010110
04	$	$	04	10010001100	57	Y	Y	57	11101101000
05	%	%	05	10001001100	58	Z	Z	58	11101100010
06	&	&	06	10011001000	59	[	[	59	11100011010
07	'	'	07	10011000100	60	\	\	60	11101111010
08	(	(	08	10001100100	61	]	]	61	11001000010
09	)	)	09	11001001000	62	^	^	62	11110001010
10	*	*	10	11001000100	63	_	_	63	10100110000
11	+	+	11	11000100100	64	NUL	`	64	10100001100
12	,	,	12	10110011100	65	SOH	a	65	10010110000
13	-	-	13	10011011100	66	STX	b	66	10010000110
14	.	.	14	10011001110	67	ETX	c	67	10000101100
15	/	/	15	10111001100	68	EOT	d	68	10000100110
16	0	0	16	10011101100	69	ENQ	e	69	10110010000
17	1	1	17	10011100110	70	ACK	f	70	10110000100
18	2	2	18	11001110010	71	BEL	g	71	10011010000
19	3	3	19	11001011100	72	BS	h	72	10011000010
20	4	4	20	11001001110	73	HT	I	73	10000110100
21	5	5	21	11011100100	74	LF	j	74	10000110010
22	6	6	22	11001110100	75	VT	k	75	11000010010
23	7	7	23	11101101110	76	FF	l	76	11001010000
24	8	8	24	11101001100	77	CR	m	77	11110111010
25	9	9	25	11100101100	78	SO	n	78	11000010100
26	:	:	26	11100100110	79	SI	o	79	10001111010
27	;	;	27	11101100100	80	DLE	p	80	10100111100
28	<	<	28	11100110100	81	DC1	q	81	10010111100
29	=	=	29	11100110010	82	DC2	r	82	10010011110
30	>	>	30	11011011000	83	DC3	s	83	10111100100
31	?	?	31	11011000110	84	DC4	t	84	10011110100
32	@	@	32	11000110110	85	NAK	u	85	10011110010
33	A	A	33	10100011000	86	SYN	v	86	11110100100
34	B	B	34	10001011000	87	ETB	w	87	11110010100
35	C	C	35	10001000110	88	CAN	x	88	11110010010
36	D	D	36	10110001000	89	EM	y	89	11011011110
37	E	E	37	10001101000	90	SUB	z	90	11011110110
38	F	F	38	10001100010	91	ESC	{	91	11110110110
39	G	G	39	11010001000	92	FS	\|	92	10101111000
40	H	H	40	11000101000	93	GS	}	93	10100011110
41	I	I	41	11000100010	94	RS	~	94	10001011110
42	J	J	42	10110111000	95	US	DEL	95	10111101000
43	K	K	43	10110001110	96	FNC3	FNC3	96	10111100010
44	L	L	44	10001101110	97	FNC2	FNC2	97	11110101000
45	M	M	45	10111011000	98	SHIFT	SHIFT	98	11110100010
46	N	N	46	10111000110	99	Code C	Code C	99	10111011110
47	O	O	47	10001110110	100	Code B	FNC4	Code B	10111101110
48	P	P	48	11101110110	101	FNC4	Code A	Code A	11101011110
49	Q	Q	49	11010001110	102	FNC1	FNC1	FNC1	11110101110
50	R	R	50	11000101110	103	START A	START A	START A	11010000100
51	S	S	51	11011101000	104	START B	START B	START B	11010010000
52	T	T	52	11011100010	105	START C	START C	START C	11010011100
						STOP	STOP	STOP	11000111010

The checksum is always calculated automatically.

Datamatrix

This barcode supports the full ASCII character set and its maximum data capacity depends on the data type and the selected barcode mode:

Square: Up to 2046 double-digits (00 to 99), or up to 2047 alphanumeric characters.
Rectangular: Up to 98 double-digits (00 to 99), or up to 70 alphanumeric characters.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Error correction levels depends on the selected barcode mode. Levels range from 0 to 6 in Rectangular mode, and from 0 to 24 in Square mode. Note that the number of characters available is inversily proportional to the error correction that has been set.

Discrete 2 of 5

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.

A checksum is automatically calculated. Optional bearer bars can be added for added reliability.

FIM

This static code can only represent one of three available FIM types: FIMA, FIMB, and FIMC.

GS1 Databar (RSS)

This barcode supports digits only and the maximum number of characters allowed is based on the selected barcode mode.

RSS-14, RSS-14 Truncated, RSS Limited, RSS-14 Stacked, RSS-14 Stacked Omnidirectional: Limited to 14 digits (this includes a 1 digit checksum).
RSS Expanded and RSS Expanded Stacked: No set character limit.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

IMB/OneCode

The Intelligent Mail Barcode is used by USPS to track letters and flats. The barcode has no selectable option, but the data must be formatted in a very specific way to be useable. The data must be one single string of digits, composed of the following items:

Barcode Identifyer: ID String of exactly 2 characters containing only numeric digits.
Service Type Identifyer: String of exactly 3 characters containing only numeric digits.
Mailer Identifier: String of either 6 or 9 characters containing only numeric digits.
Serial Number: String with a length of 6 or 9 digits. The Mailer ID + Serial Number must have a total length of 15.
Delivery Point Zipcode: Optional string with a length of 0, 5, 9 or 11 digits.

For more information on the OneCode barcode, please see http://ribbs.usps.gov/onecodesolution.

Japan Post

The Japan Post barcode will accept digits and uppercase letters and the hyphen. The data consists of a 7 digit postal code plus address data. If the address data is less than 13 characters the remaining character positions are filled with control characters to make the length 20.

The postal code section may have a hyphen at the 4th character position (eg. 123-4567) although this hyphen does not appear in the encoded data. There may also be a hyphen between the postal code and the address data (eg. 154-0023-1-3-2-A-507). Again this hyphen does not appear in the encoded data. Note that the remaining hyphens are encoded.

Maxicode

This 2D barcode can be used in documents that will be printed using the Optimized Postscript, Windows Printing or printer centric mode.

This barcode supports various data types and the maximum number of characters allowed is based on the selected barcode mode:

Mode 2: For shipping data including a zipcode.
Mode 3: For shipping data including a postal code.
Mode 4: For any data (full ASCII supported) up to 84 characters.
Mode 5: For any data (full ASCII supported) up to 68 characters.
Mode 6: For any data (full ASCII supported) up to 84 characters.

Note that the Barcode Options page of the Barcode dialog box may also be used to enter the data. When
mode 2 or 3 is selected, all the corresponding dialog box fields are accessible. When mode 4, 5 or 6 is
selected, only the Message dialog box field may be used to enter data. Entering data this way supersedes
any data entered using the Data page of the Barcode dialog box.

Micro PDF417

This barcode supports various data types and the maximum number of characters allowed is based on the selected barcode mode:

Text compaction: Alphanumeric characters up to a maximum of 250 characters.
Numeric compaction: Numeric characters up to a maximum of 366 characters.

The number of columns in the barcode may be selected as required up to a maximum limit of 4 columns.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Note that the error correction level is always set automatically.

Micro QR

This barcode supports various data types and the maximum number of characters allowed is based on the selected barcode mode:

Numeric: Numeric characters up to a maximum of 35 digits.
Alphanumeric: Numeric and alphanumeric characters (limited to uppercase letters, spaces, and the following characters: dollar ($), percent (%), star (*), plus (+), minus (-), period (.), slash (/),and colon (:) only up to a maximum of 21 characters.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Error correction may be set from Level 0 to Level 3.

MSI Plessey

This code can contain a variable number of characters. The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.

A checksum is added automatically.

PDF417

This 2D barcode replaces the PDF417 barcode used in previous versions of PlanetPress Design. It can be used in documents that will be printed using the Optimized Postscript, Windows Printing or printer centric mode.

If you open document that uses the “old PDF417 barcode”, existing PDF417 barcodes will remain unchanged, and any new PDF417 barcode that you may add to that document will also use the “old PDF417 barcode”. If you want this older document to use the new barcode, you will have to delete all its “old PDF417 barcodes”, to save the document, and then to add new PDF417 barcodes. Barcodes added to older documents that did not contain any PDF417 barcode or to new documents will be added using the “new PDF417 barcode”.

This barcode supports various data types and the maximum number of characters allowed is based on the selected barcode mode:

Text: Basic alphanumeric characters up to a maximum of 1847 characters.
Binary/ASCII Plus: Extended ASCII character set (all 256 characters) up to a maximum of 1847 characters.
Numeric: Numeric characters up to a maximum of 2707 digits.

The number of columns in the barcode may be selected as required up to a maximum limit of 20 columns.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Error correction may be set from Level 0 to Level 8.

Place a checkmark in the Truncated box to make the barcode a truncated PDF417 barcode. By default, barcodes are added as standard PDF417 barcodes.

Plessey

This code can contain a variable number of characters. The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.
Upper case letters: A to F.

A two-digit checksum is added automatically.

USPS Postnet

Standard Postnet codes must contain exactly 5 characters. The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.

Apart from the standard Postnet code, two additional codes can also be used:

Postnet+4 (5 digits + 4 supplemental digits).
Postnet+6 (5 digits + 6 supplemental digits).

A checksum is added automatically.

QR Code

This barcode supports various data types and the maximum number of characters allowed is based on the selected barcode mode:

Automatic: Automatic characters evaluation up to a maximum of 7089 digits.
Alphanumeric: Numeric and alphanumeric characters. Limited to uppercase letters, spaces and the following characters: dollar ($), percent (%), star (*), plus (+), minus (-), period (.), slash (/), colon (:), semicolon (;), at (@) and comma (,) up to a maximum of 4296 characters. Note that lowercase characters are automatically converted to uppercase.
Kanji: All double-byte characters.
Full: All ASCII characters.

Bar width is set using millimeters and corresponds to the minimum barcode width.

Error correction may be set from Level 0 to Level 3.

Royal Mail

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.
Upper case letters: A to Z.

A checksum is added automatically.

UPC

The UPC barcode in PlanetPress Design supports multiple subtypes:

UPC-A

Standard UPC-A codes must contain exactly 12 characters (including the checksum character). The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.

Apart from the standard UPC-A code, two additional codes can also be used:

UPC-A+2 (12 digits + 2 supplemental digits).
UPC-A+5 (12 digits + 5 supplemental digits).

A checksum is added automatically.

UPC-E

Standard UPC-E codes must contain exactly 8 characters:

Must start with the digit 0 (must be added if not included in data).
Six variable digits
One checksum digit (added automatically).

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.

Apart from the standard UPC-E code, two additional codes can also be used:

UPC-E+2 (8 digits + 2 supplemental digits).
UPC-E+5 (8 digits + 5 supplemental digits).

EAN-13

The standard code must contain exactly 13 characters (this includes one checksum character).

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits (0 to 9).

Apart from the standard EAN-13 code, two additional codes can also be used:

EAN-13+2 (15 characters in all).
EAN-13+5 (18 characters in all).

A checksum is automatically calculated for this barcode.

Human readable characters are always included in the code.

EAN-8

The standard EAN-8 code must contain exactly 8 characters (this includes one checksum character).

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits (0 to 9).

Apart from the standard EAN-8 code, two additional codes can also be used:

EAN-8+2 (10 characters in all)
EAN-8+5 (13 characters in all)

Human readable characters are always included in the code.

ISBN

Standard ISBN barcodes contain 10 digits (9 digits for the data plus 1 checksum digit) or 13 digits (a 3 digit prefix, 9 digits for the data plus 1 checksum digit).

ISBN 10 digit codes typically include 4 sections and 3 hyphens or spaces.
ISBN 13 digit codes include 5 sections and 4 hyphens or spaces. The prefix is usually 978 or 979.

Using hyphens or spaces is not compulsory but recommended to clearly separate each part of the code.

The following characters are valid for this barcode:

Digits: 0 to 9.
Symbols: space, - (hyphens).

Apart from the standard ISBN code, two additional codes can also be used:

ISBN+2 (10 or 13 characters + 2 supplemental digits).
ISBN+5 (10 or 13 characters + 5 supplemental digits).