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A barcode font is a quick and easy way to create a barcode and a lot cheaper than buying software to create the barcode, so what could be wrong in using a Code128 font?

A Code 128 barcode breaks down as follows:

Start character
Data characters
Checksum character
Stop character

The start and stop characters are usually created by entering a character such as Ë and the stop character might be Î but the checksum character needs to be calculated from the values of the other characters, and this can’t be done by a font (jump to the code 128 specification for details on how this can be done).

So the short answer is – don’t use a Code 128 font for creating barcodes, use something simpler like a Code 39 font which doesn’t need a checksum character.

If you do want to use a Code 128 font and can’t generate a checksum then you can disable the necessity for a checksum in our software with the following setting, but you will still need to make sure you get a start and stop character in your barcode:

Code128DebugMode = 1

HINT: The stop character consists of 4 bars where as all other characters have 3 bars.