Code 128 is the barcode of shipping and logistics, and the one a new barcode in Labeljoy starts as. It's compact, it holds letters, digits and symbols, and every scanner reads it. With GS1 data it becomes GS1-128 - once called EAN-128 or UCC-128 - the barcode on pallet and shipping labels.

Code 128

GS1-128 with a GS1 composite part

What it holds
Characters	Every letter, digit and symbol on the keyboard, and the accented letters of Western European languages - é, ü, ñ and the like. The euro sign and other alphabets don't fit: use a QR Code for those.
Length	Up to 160 characters. Digits pack two to a bar pattern, so the bars hold about 80 letters or 160 digits.
Check digit	Always there, worked out by Labeljoy. It's in the bars, not in the readable text.
Modes	None to choose. Code 128 has three code sets - A, B and C - and Labeljoy switches between them for you, to keep the barcode as short as it can be.
Encoding	Standard, GS1 for GS1-128, or HIBC: see GS1 and HIBC data, which also explains the GS1 composite.
Readable text	The value. With GS1, the application identifiers are printed in round brackets.

Characters you can't type. With Encoding set to Standard, a tilde followed by three digits is the character with that code - ~009 is a tab, ~013 a carriage return - and ~~ is a tilde.

The rest of the settings - text position, quiet zone, color - are in the Barcode section.

What goes wrong
Invalid characters in input data.	The value has a character Code 128 can't hold, such as the euro sign.
Input data too long.	Too many characters for one barcode.