QR code

No redirect, and why that is the whole point

Many free QR generators encode a link to their domain, which then forwards to yours. It lets them count scans, and it means the code stops working the day that company changes its pricing, gets bought, or goes away. Codes printed on menus, business cards, packaging and signage have died exactly this way, in bulk.

The code this page makes contains your text and nothing else. Scan it with the network off and it still resolves to what you typed. Nothing about the code depends on this site continuing to exist, which is the only sensible property for something you are about to print.

Error correction, and why bigger is not always better

QR codes carry redundancy so they still scan when damaged. Four levels: L recovers about 7% of the code, M 15%, Q 25%, H 30%.

Redundancy costs capacity. At H, the same text needs a physically larger code with more, smaller squares — which is harder to scan on a small print or from a distance. M is the right default for almost everything on a screen or a clean print.

Go to Q or H when the code will be printed small, on something that curls or creases, outdoors, or with a logo placed over the middle. That last case is the real reason H exists: covering the centre destroys modules, and only the high level survives it.

The white border is part of the code

The QR specification requires a clear margin of four modules on every side — the "quiet zone". Scanners use it to find the edges. Crop it off and a code that worked on screen becomes one that will not scan on paper, which is the most common way a printed QR code fails.

Both downloads here include it. Do not trim the white border, and do not place the code flush against a coloured background without leaving that margin white.

PNG or SVG

PNG for screens, documents and anywhere a picture is expected. Pick the pixel size with the slider — bigger is only bigger, since the code is the same either way.

SVG for anything printed. It scales to any size with perfectly sharp edges, which matters enormously for QR codes: a scaled-up PNG has soft module edges and scanners are measurably worse at reading it. If it is going to a printer, send the SVG.

Formats worth knowing

• A link: include the https://. Without it, some scanners treat the whole thing as plain text and show it rather than opening it.
• Wi-Fi: WIFI:T:WPA;S:NetworkName;P:password;; — connects a phone without anybody typing the password. The two semicolons at the end are required.
• Contact card: MECARD:N:Surname,First;TEL:+84...;EMAIL:...;; — shorter than vCard and better supported by phone cameras.
• Email: mailto:someone@example.com?subject=Hello.
• Phone: tel:+84904879900.

Keep it short. The longer the text, the denser the code and the harder it is to scan. A URL of about sixty characters is a comfortable ceiling for something that will be printed.