QR code guides

Practical tutorials for getting the most out of QR codes

Start here Essentials

Static vs Dynamic QR Codes: What You Are Actually Choosing

The pattern either contains your address or a redirect someone else owns. What editable really costs, when dynamic is right, and the myths in between.

4 min read
How-to

QR Codes and Barcodes in Microsoft Word, Without an Add-in

Word can draw QR codes and barcodes itself, one per mail-merge record. The hidden field codes, and the size and check-digit traps.

6 min read
Safety

QR Code Scams, and How to Scan Safely

A QR code is only a link, so the risk is where it leads. Where fake codes turn up, what to check before opening one, and how to protect codes you print.

4 min read
How-to

How to Scan a QR Code From a Screenshot or Photo

When the code is on your own screen, the camera cannot see it. Reading a QR code from a screenshot or saved photo on iPhone, Android and a computer.

3 min read
Essentials

QR Codes in Other Languages and Emoji: What Changes

Any language and any emoji fit in a QR code, but not for the same space. Measured: why Cyrillic, Arabic and Chinese text makes denser codes.

5 min read
Print

SVG or PNG for a QR Code? It Depends Where It Is Going

PNG for screens and quick sharing, SVG for print and anything styled. File sizes measured from real exports, and how many pixels a printed code needs.

4 min read
Reference

QR Code Capacity and Barcode Sizes: Reference Tables

How much fits in each QR code version at each error-correction level, the printed size that implies, and GS1 barcode sizes from 80% to 200%.

5 min read
Troubleshooting

Why Your QR Code Won’t Scan — and How to Fix It

Six reasons a printed QR code fails: low contrast, cropped quiet zone, wrong size, inverted colours, too much data, decorative modules. With fixes.

3 min read
Barcodes

EAN-13 vs UPC-A vs Code 128: Which Barcode You Need

Selling in Europe, the US, or labelling internal stock? A plain decision guide to retail symbologies, with a comparison table and check-digit notes.

4 min read
Print

How Big Should a Printed QR Code Be?

The one-tenth rule of thumb, worked examples from business cards to posters, and why data density changes the answer.

4 min read
Essentials

How QR Codes Work — and Why Damaged Ones Still Scan

Finder patterns, versions and Reed–Solomon error correction in plain words: what the squares mean and how a code survives a logo or a torn corner.

4 min read
Restaurants

QR code for a restaurant menu: what actually works

Print size for table tents, the white border that must not be cropped, matte versus gloss, and why static codes never expire.

5 min read
Barcodes

Barcodes for a small shop: which type, and how to print them

Do you need a GS1 number? Which symbology, what a check digit does, and the colour rule that makes red barcodes invisible to a till.

5 min read
Bulk

From spreadsheet to printed labels, without a design tool

Which columns matter, why errors are caught before generating, and how to get the size right on paper.

4 min read
Events

QR codes for an event, from invitation to the door

Tickets, check-in, WiFi and signage — and the offline failure nobody plans for.

3 min read
Business

A QR code that asks for a Google review

Getting a link that opens the review box rather than your listing, where to put it, and what Google prohibits.

4 min read
Business

A WhatsApp QR code that opens a chat, pre-typed

The number format that trips everyone up, and why pre-typing the first message matters.

4 min read
For developers

Add a QR code generator to your site with one link

One anchor tag, no script, no account. Set the content, the theme and the logo from the URL.

3 min read
WiFi

How to create a QR code for your WiFi network

What a WiFi code actually contains, the characters that break one, and why changing the password means reprinting.

4 min read
vCard

QR codes on business cards: what to encode and how big to print

What to put in the code, how big it can be at card size, where it goes, and which module shapes to test first.

4 min read

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