QR Studio
Printing a QR code: size, margins and materials
A code can be perfect on screen and useless on paper. Three details decide the result — and two of them are easy to miss.
Minimum size and scan distance
A practical rule: the side of the code should be about a tenth of the scanning distance. From 30 cm that means 3 cm or more.
A business card is fine with 1,5–2 cm because it is scanned up close. A poster read from 3 metres needs 15–20 cm.
The quiet zone nobody notices
An empty strip must stay around the code — at least four modules on every side. On a small format that is 2–4 mm.
Do not put text, a frame or a photo there: the camera uses that area to separate the code from the background.
Files and materials
For small print a high-resolution PNG is enough; for banners and large formats send a vector file — SVG or PDF.
Matte paper scans more reliably than gloss: a reflection from a lamp can wipe out a whole corner of the code in a photo.
Two new tools: a safety-check scanner and the QR Studio
Next to the generator you now have a QR scanner that shows what is inside a code before you open it, and the QR Studio for colours, a logo, ready templates and print-ready files.