QR Code Generator
Make a QR code for a link, WiFi network, contact card or message.
Enter what the code should carry and it is drawn as you type. Everything happens in your browser, so nothing you enter is sent anywhere. Download a PNG for screens or an SVG for print, at any size, with no account and no watermark. For a profile on a specific network, the social media QR code generator builds the address for you.
What a QR code is
A QR code stores text in a square grid of black and white cells. A barcode holds around 20 characters in one line of stripes; a QR code holds thousands and reads in any orientation. The text inside can be anything: a web address, a phone number, the details of a WiFi network. What happens when it is scanned depends on how that text is formatted, which is what the types above set for you.
Static codes, and what that means
The content sits inside the pattern itself. There is no server between the code and the person scanning it, so it works offline, it costs nothing to run, and it never expires. It also cannot be changed after it is made. If the address is wrong or the WiFi password changes, the old printed code keeps pointing at the old thing and has to be replaced. To keep one printed code and change where it goes later, point it at a short link you control and change the link instead. The sona.to link shortener does that.
PNG or SVG
PNG is a fixed grid of pixels, so pick a size at least as large as you will use it. SVG is a vector: it stays sharp at any size, from a business card to a window sign, and it is the format a printer will ask for.
Color and contrast
Scanners look for dark cells on a light background. That is the only combination that works reliably. Low contrast between the two colors, or a light code on a dark background, fails on many readers even when it looks fine on screen. The contrast is checked as you pick the colors and flagged when it drops too low.
Printing it
Size depends on distance and on how much data the code carries. A rough working rule is one unit of code width for every ten units of scanning distance, so a code read from two meters wants around 20cm across. More data means more cells, and more cells at the same physical size means smaller cells, which is harder for a camera to resolve. Keep the margin around the code clear, since scanners use that empty space to find the edges.
When a code will not scan
The usual causes, in order: printed too small for the amount of data, not enough contrast between the two colors, no margin around the edge, the code is distorted or stretched, or the surface is reflective. Test with a phone camera at the real size on the real material before a print run, not on screen.
- Opens a web address in the browser.
- Shows the text on screen. There is no link in it, so the phone offers what it can, usually a copy option or a web search.
- Joins a network. The phone reads the name, password and security type and offers to connect.
- Saves a contact card. Name, organization, phone, email and website go straight into the address book.
- Opens the mail app with the address, subject and message already filled in, ready to send.
- Opens the messaging app with the number and message filled in. Longer messages may arrive in several parts.
- Opens the dialer with the number entered. It does not call on its own.
- Opens the place in the map app on the phone.