Creating a QR code takes seconds.
Creating a good QR code takes a little more thought.
It is easy to paste a URL into a QR code generator, pick a design and download the result. But if the code is going on a menu, business card, poster, product package or presentation, looking good is only half the job.
Someone still needs to be able to scan it.
Here are a few things worth checking before you print or share your next QR code.
What can you put inside a QR code?
Most people associate QR codes with website links, but a QR code can hold different types of information.
Depending on the generator, you can create QR codes for:
- Website URLs
- Plain text
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- SMS messages
- Wi-Fi credentials
- Contact information
- Locations
For most everyday use cases, you enter the information, generate the QR code and save the resulting image.
The important part is choosing the right type of QR code for what you want the person scanning it to do.
Keep the destination simple
If you are creating a QR code for a website, use the final URL you actually want people to visit.
For example:
https://example.com/menu
is much better than encoding a long URL filled with unnecessary tracking parameters unless those parameters are genuinely required.
A simpler destination is easier to manage and makes it clearer what the QR code is supposed to do.
Before generating the final version, open the URL yourself and make sure the page works properly on a phone.
A perfectly designed QR code pointing to a broken mobile page is still a bad QR code.
Contrast matters more than decoration
Custom QR codes can look great, but there is a point where design starts working against usability.
The safest combination remains a dark QR pattern on a light background.
You can use other colours, but maintain strong contrast between the code and its background.
A pale grey QR code on a white background might fit your design beautifully while becoming frustrating to scan in poor lighting.
The same applies to gradients and elaborate colour combinations.
Style the QR code, but do not make the scanner work harder than it needs to.
Give the QR code some space
The empty area around a QR code is important.
This space is commonly called the quiet zone. It helps a scanner distinguish the QR code from text, images and other elements around it.
Avoid placing text, borders or decorative graphics immediately against the code.
If you are adding the QR code to a poster or business card, give it some breathing room.
It usually looks better that way too.
Do not make it too small
A QR code that works perfectly on your laptop screen may not work nearly as well after being printed at a tiny size.
How large it needs to be depends on where people will scan it from.
A QR code on a business card is scanned from a short distance.
A QR code on a shop window, banner or presentation screen may need to be scanned from much farther away.
As the expected scanning distance increases, the QR code should generally become larger too.
When in doubt, test the actual size rather than judging it only from the design on your screen.
Can you put a logo inside a QR code?
Yes, QR codes can tolerate a certain amount of missing or obscured information because they include error correction.
That is what makes QR codes with logos in the centre possible.
But that does not mean you can cover as much of the code as you want.
A huge logo, excessive styling or heavily modified QR patterns can eventually make the code unreliable.
Keep the logo reasonably small and test the finished code on multiple devices.
Branding is useful only if people can still scan it.
Static QR codes are simple and useful
A static QR code stores its destination directly inside the code.
If you create one containing:
https://example.com
that URL is part of the QR code itself.
This has a useful advantage: generating and scanning the code does not inherently require an account or a special QR service.
The trade-off is that you cannot change the encoded URL later without generating a new QR code.
For menus, temporary campaigns, Wi-Fi access, personal websites, contact information and many everyday uses, that simplicity is often exactly what you need.
Can a QR code be generated in the browser?
Yes.
Generating a standard QR code does not require sending the information to a remote server.
The browser can take the text or URL you provide, encode it into the QR format and render the result locally.
For something as simple as a website URL or Wi-Fi configuration, local generation has an obvious benefit: the information does not need to leave your device just to create the image.
It also makes QR generation almost instant.
Enter the content, customise the design and save the result.
Test before you print
This is probably the most important step.
Scan your QR code before publishing it.
If it is going to be printed, test a printed version at approximately the same size.
Try it with more than one phone if possible.
Check that:
- The QR code scans quickly
- The destination is correct
- The linked page works on mobile
- The colours have enough contrast
- The code still works at its intended size
- Any logo or styling does not interfere with scanning
It takes a minute and can save you from printing hundreds of unusable QR codes.
A good QR code should feel boring to scan
People should not have to think about scanning your QR code.
They point their camera at it, the link appears and they continue.
That is the goal.
Custom colours, shapes and logos can make a QR code fit your brand, but reliability comes first.
Generate it, customise it enough to make it yours, test it on a real phone and then put it to work.