QR 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 read · Updated
Those two jobs pull in opposite directions, and picking the wrong content type for each is the usual mistake. Here is which code belongs on the invitation and which belongs at the door.
On the invitation: a calendar entry
The single most useful thing an invitation code can do is put the event straight into someone's calendar. Choose the Event content type in the generator, fill in title, start, end and location, and the scan opens a prefilled “add to calendar” screen.
Two details matter. Include the time zone if guests travel — an event saved without one drifts by an hour for anyone in a different offset. And write the location as a full postal address, not “the usual place”, because that string is what a phone hands to its maps app.
On a poster: a link, and only a link
Posters are scanned from a distance and often in a hurry, so the code must be chunky. A calendar entry is a lot of text and produces a dense grid; a short link to the event page produces a code half as fine that reads from across a corridor. Put the calendar code on the page you link to, where there is time to use it.
By the distance ÷ 10 rule an A2 poster read from 1.5–2 m needs about 15–20 cm of code. The size table has the rest.
On a badge: the person, not the event
Conference badges are the one place a contact card code genuinely shines: two people meet, one scans, the details are saved without either of them typing. Keep it to name, company, one email and one phone — a full vCard on a badge printed at 3 cm is dense enough to fail in a crowded hall.
Badges get worn on lanyards, which means they hang, twist and curl. Print the code with error correction Q or H, and put it low on the badge where it is not hidden by a jacket lapel.
At the door: assume there is no signal
This is the failure every venue eventually hands you. Three hundred people arrive in ten minutes, all on the same cell, and mobile data collapses. If your check-in flow needs the guest's phone to load a page at that moment, the queue stops.
- Send tickets before the day and tell people to screenshot or add them to a wallet.
- Scan from the guest's screen with your device, on venue Wi-Fi or a local list — do not depend on their connection.
- Keep a printed guest list. It is the fallback that has never once failed to work.
Tickets need to be checked, not just scanned
A QR code proves what it contains, not who is holding it. Anyone can photograph a ticket code and send the picture to a friend, so if entry is paid or capacity is capped, the code must carry a unique identifier that your door system marks as used on first scan. A static code that simply says “admit one” is an invitation, not a ticket — which is fine, as long as you know which one you are printing.
Where artistic codes belong
Invitations, save-the-dates and album-style posters are the ideal home for halftone QR art: someone is holding the card still, in decent light, with time to spare. Keep the plain code for the door, where conditions are the worst they will ever be.