11101000
In ASCII mode, digit pair “01” is encoded as codeword 131.
A codeword value, not eight adjacent grid cells.Yes, to a degree. If the grid size, orientation and placement rules are known, some parts of the code can be reconstructed manually.
For GS1 DataMatrix, a service marker such as FNC1 is expected, and in ASCII mode some digit pairs are packed into a single codeword.
These facts are useful for checking orientation, validating byte hypotheses and confirming whether the grid is laid out correctly.
But that does not mean the whole code can simply be “read by eye”. Damaged symbols almost always require geometry handling, unknown modules and error checking.
So manual work is best viewed as a way to verify or refine hypotheses, not as the fastest complete decoding method.
If there is any doubt, the more reliable approach is still to send the image for specialised analysis.