QR code guides
Everything we have learned about making QR codes that survive real printers, real phones and real lighting. No sign-up, no upsell — the tool that goes with these guides is free.
QR code basics
How the format actually works, so the rest of the choices make sense.
Codes by what they do
Wi-Fi, contact cards and the other things a QR code can carry besides a link.
How to make a Wi-Fi QR code
A Wi-Fi QR code stores your network name, security type and password, so scanning it joins the network without anyone typing — or reading — the password aloud.
5 min readHow to make a vCard QR code for your business card
A vCard QR code carries your name, phone, email and company as structured contact data, so scanning it opens a prefilled “add contact” screen instead of a web page.
5 min read
Where codes actually go
Menus, events and packaging — what changes when a code has to work in the real world.
QR code menus for restaurants and cafés
A restaurant menu code fails for reasons no other code faces: dim lighting, laminated glare, and a hungry person who gives up after two seconds.
6 min readQR codes for events, invitations and tickets
An event code has two jobs: before the day it saves the date and the address, and on the day it has to work in a crowd with no signal.
6 min readQR codes on product packaging and labels
Packaging is the least forgiving home for a QR code — it curves, it shines, it is printed small, and a mistake ships in the tens of thousands.
6 min read
Design and branding
Make a code look like yours without breaking the part that has to be read.
How to add a logo to a QR code (without breaking it)
You can cover roughly the middle 20–25% of a QR code with a logo, because error correction stores enough redundancy to rebuild the hidden modules — past that, scanners start failing.
6 min readArtistic QR codes: blending a picture into a scannable code
Artistic QR codes keep each module's average brightness while varying the detail inside it, so a picture shows through and a scanner still reads the same data.
5 min read
Scanning and printing
Getting a code to survive a phone camera, a cheap printer and bad lighting.
Why won't my QR code scan? A checklist
Almost every QR code that will not scan fails for one of eight reasons — and you can rule out all eight in about two minutes.
7 min readHow big should a QR code be when printed?
Divide the distance people will scan from by ten: that is the minimum width of the code. A code read from 30 cm needs about 3 cm; from 5 m it needs 50 cm.
5 min read