A QR code (Quick Response code) is a two-dimensional barcode. Point a phone camera at it and it instantly opens a link, shows text, connects to Wi-Fi or dials a number — no typing needed.
They're everywhere: menus, posters, packaging, business cards and payments. Making one is free and takes seconds.
Create one with the QR Code Generator.
What a QR code contains
A QR code is text encoded as a grid of black and white squares. Point a camera at it and the text comes out — usually a URL, but equally wifi credentials, contact details, a payment reference or plain words. There is nothing else in it: no tracking, no account, no server, unless the text itself happens to be a link to one.
Error correction, and why a logo fits in the middle
QR codes include redundant data at one of four levels, allowing roughly 7% to 30% of the surface to be damaged or covered while still scanning. That is what makes it possible to place a logo in the centre. Higher error correction means a denser grid for the same content, so there is a trade-off between how much you can cover and how large the code must be printed.
Why some codes are dense and hard to scan
The more text you encode, the more modules the grid needs, and a dense grid must be printed larger or held closer to read reliably. A short URL produces a visibly simpler code than a long one carrying tracking parameters. If a code has to work on a poster read from a distance, shortening what it encodes does more than any other adjustment.
Static codes and shortener services
A code generated directly from your text is permanent: it encodes your link and nothing else, and it works for as long as that link works. A code from a redirect service encodes the service's URL instead, which allows the destination to be changed later but means the code stops working entirely if that service shuts down, and that every scan is logged by a third party. Both are legitimate choices — just know which one you are printing.
Printing them so they actually scan
Keep a quiet margin of clear space around the code, at least four modules wide, or scanners struggle to find its edges. Maintain strong contrast, ideally dark on light — inverted codes fail on many readers. Do not stretch the code out of square. And test with more than one phone before printing a thousand copies.