What this does differently
In a general design tool a QR code is a picture. You can drag its corner and make it 8 mm across on an A4 poster, and nothing will stop you. It will look neat in the layout and fail on the wall.
Here the code is not a picture you resize. You pick what you are making, and the code is set to the size that suits the distance people will stand at. The preview tells you that distance and the finished size in millimetres, and the file downloads at exactly those dimensions.
Every sign is also decoded before you download it, the same check our stress test runs, so a heading long enough to squeeze the layout cannot quietly break the code.
The sizes, and where they come from
The rule of thumb across the industry is that a code should be about a tenth of the distance it is read from. A code scanned from one metre wants to be around 10 cm. These templates apply that, then round to sizes that sit comfortably on standard paper:
| Template | Paper size | Scan distance | Code size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table tent | A6, 105 by 148 mm | About 40 cm | 45 mm |
| Counter card | A5, 148 by 210 mm | About 60 cm | 60 mm |
| Wall poster | A4, 210 by 297 mm | About 1 m | 100 mm |
| Window sign | A4, 210 by 297 mm | About 2 m | 150 mm |
| Sticker | 60 by 60 mm | Up close | 35 mm |
| Business card back | 85 by 55 mm | In the hand | 20 mm |
We also worked out what each of these sizes means in millimetres per module, how much blur that buys you, and how long your link can be before it eats the budget, in sign size and link length. Our print sizing guide works through the arithmetic, and our scan limits test explains why focus, rather than size, is usually what actually breaks a scan. Size still matters, because a bigger module tolerates more blur.
Printing it so the size survives
The commonest way to ruin a correctly sized sign is at the printer dialog.
- Print at 100%, not "fit to page". Scaling to fit shrinks everything, including the code, by whatever percentage it feels like. The PDF here is already the exact paper size, so 100% is correct.
- Use the PDF rather than the PNG where you can. It carries the real millimetre dimensions, so the printer has nothing to guess.
- Measure the printed code once with a ruler against the size shown in the preview. If it does not match, scaling is on.
- Laminate table tents, do not gloss window signs. A reflection across the code is worse than a smaller code.
Writing the heading
A code with no words next to it gets scanned far less, because people will not point a camera at something when they cannot predict what happens next. The heading is doing more work than the design.
Say what they get, not what to do. "Scan for the menu" beats "Scan here". "See tonight's specials" beats "QR code". If there is a reason to scan, put the reason in the heading and the instruction in the small line underneath.
Keep it short. Long headings shrink to fit and stop being readable at the distance the sign is meant for, which defeats the point of sizing the code properly.
Common questions
Can I change the code size myself?
Not on purpose, no, and that is the point of this tool. If you need a different size, pick the template that matches your distance, or build the code in the customiser and place it yourself in a design tool. Our sizing guide has the numbers if you go that way.
Is my link sent anywhere?
No. The sign is drawn in your browser and the file is produced on your machine. Nothing is uploaded, and the page works with the connection dropped once it has loaded.
Why is my PDF a different size to A4?
Three of the templates are not A4. The table tent is A6, the counter card is A5, and the sticker and business card are small custom sizes, because that is what they are in real life. Print them on the paper they name, or on A4 and cut.
Can I put my logo on it?
Not in this tool. A logo inside a code costs error correction, which is the budget you want spent on print imperfections at these distances. Our customiser does logos, with a measured limit, if you want one.
What if the preview says the code does not scan?
Shorten the link. A long URL with tracking parameters makes a dense code, and a dense code at a fixed printed size has smaller modules. Point at a short address you control and change what lives there.
Related tools
Make the code first with the URL, WiFi or feedback generator if you want to check the content, style it in the customiser, or check an existing one with the scanner. For a whole venue at once, the bulk generator makes a sheet of table codes.