Stacked barcodes

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Stacked barcodes are rows of bars piled one on top of the other, so a long value fits in a short, wide block instead of one very long line. Each row is read like a linear barcode, and many scanners that read linear barcodes read these too.

The stacked symbologies
Codablock FRows of Code 128, as many as the value needs.
Code 16KUp to 16 rows of Code 128 characters, five in each.
Code 49Up to 8 rows, for plain letters, digits and symbols.
DatabarGS1 DataBar: the GTIN of a product, and the weight, price or expiry date of fresh food. Seven versions.
PDF 417The most capacity of the group: ID cards, driving licences, shipping documents.

Readable text. Only Databar prints its value under the bars. For the others, add a text element beside the barcode if the label needs the value in clear.

Characters you can't type. With Encoding set to Standard, a tilde followed by three digits is the character with that code - ~013 is a carriage return, ~029 the GS separator - and ~~ is a tilde.

Code 16K and Code 49 can also carry GS1 data, and PDF 417 HIBC: see GS1 and HIBC data. The rest of the settings - quiet zone, color - are in the Barcode section. Keep aspect ratio keeps the rows in proportion while you resize the element; turn it off to stretch the barcode to fill it.