PHP: Encrypt/Decrypt Short String
<p>I need to encrypt and decrypt short strings (Ex. 'product1234'). I have used mcrypt_encrypt and mcrypt_decrypt with various ciphers. The problem is that invariably it throws in extended characters into resulting string, which causes some issues with certain aspects of my application code that I cannot control.</p>

<p>So, the question is whether there is either a cipher that reduces the list of characters that are used in the encrypted string (i.e. leaving out things such as '+', '\', or '/').</p>
