QR code generator

Type what the code should carry, choose what kind of thing it is, and download it — as a PNG or as an SVG that prints at any size. Paste a list and you get a printable sheet to cut; drop a picture of a code and it tells you what it says. Free, no account, no expiry, nothing stored.

What it does, and why it is here

A QR code is not a picture of a link. It is a string, encoded as squares, and the phone decides what to do with it by recognising the shape of that string: tel: offers to call, mailto: opens the mail client, geo: opens the map, an iCalendar block goes to the calendar. Getting that shape right by hand means knowing four or five little formats, each with its own escaping rules, and a single wrong character produces a code that scans perfectly and does nothing.

So the form asks what the code carries and writes the string for you. The rest of what it does is the part most generators leave out: it shows the contrast ratio of the colours you chose, the quiet zone around the symbol and the grid density, because those three are what decide whether the print actually scans — and none of them are visible on a screen at 300 px.

And the codes it makes are static. Nothing is stored, nothing is counted, nothing expires. A code made here works in ten years because there is no service between it and its destination — which is the opposite trade from the “dynamic” codes that let you change the target later, at the price of a subscription that can lapse and take every printed code with it.

What you fill in

• What the code carries — a link or plain text, a phone number, an SMS, an e-mail, a place, or a calendar event. Choosing one changes the fields underneath.
• Content, up to 2048 characters — or, depending on the kind: a phone number (with the country code if the code will travel; spaces and dashes are dropped), an e-mail address with subject and message pre-filled, a latitude and longitude in decimal degrees, or an event with a start, an end and an IANA time zone — the reader sees it in their own.
• Size in pixels — 300 is fine on screen, 600 or more to print.
• Error correction — how much of the symbol can be scratched, covered or torn and still read. Higher survives more, at the cost of a denser grid.
• Quiet zone — the blank margin, in modules. Readers expect 4; below 2 many fail. This is the single most common reason a code that works on screen fails on a poster.
• Modules and background colours — yes, colour is allowed. The background must stay lighter than the modules, and the tool holds you to a contrast of at least 3:1, which is what a camera can actually tell apart.
• A batch, one code per line — up to 48. The PDF comes back as a sheet to cut, each code captioned by what it carries. Table talkers, shelf labels, a code per room.
• Or a picture — drop or pick a photo or screenshot of a QR code or a barcode and the tool reads it. PNG, JPEG, WebP or GIF, up to 2 MiB.

What you get back

• The code, as a PNG and as an SVG. The SVG is the one to give a printer: it scales to a building without a single soft edge.
• The symbol, described — the version, the grid, and how many pixels each module gets at your chosen size. This is what tells you whether it will survive being printed at 2 cm.
• The contrast ratio of the two colours, measured, so a design decision does not quietly become an unscannable code.
• The exact string encoded, so you can see what the phone will be handed.
• A printable sheet, when you pasted a batch — one code per cell, captioned, ready to cut.
• What a code says, when you gave it a picture — the decoded text, and nothing more: the destination is never fetched, so reading a code here cannot visit anything on your behalf.

What it does not do

No dynamic codes, no tracking, no scan counts, no editing a code after it is printed. That is deliberate: those need an account, a redirect service and a subscription, and the code stops working the day any of the three stops.

No logo in the middle either. It can be made to work — error correction level H, and keep the dark parts genuinely dark — but it is a design job with a scanner test at the end, not a checkbox.

How much fits, and what it costs in density

The more you encode, the finer the grid, and a grid finer than your printer or your camera can resolve simply will not scan. Measured on this tool at the default 300 px:

Two consequences worth acting on. Shorten the link before encoding it — dropping campaign parameters is free and buys a third off the grid. And raise the size rather than the error correction when a print is failing: correction adds squares, size adds room.

Questions

Is it free? Can I use it commercially?

Yes to both. No account, no watermark, no limit — the QR standard is patent-free and the codes are yours.

Do you keep what I encode?

No. What you type is used to draw the code and then forgotten: not stored, not logged, not counted. Reading a picture works the same way, and never fetches what the code points to.

Will the code stop working?

No. It is static: the destination is written into the squares themselves, with no service in between. It works as long as what it points to does.

Can I change where it points after printing?

Not with a static code. If you need that, encode a link to a page you control and change the redirect at your end — you keep the ability to move it, without depending on anyone else’s subscription.

My code will not scan. Why?

In order of likelihood: not enough quiet zone; printed too small for its density; too little contrast, or inverted — light modules on a dark background defeats many readers; or a glossy surface throwing the flash back. The answer gives you the first three as numbers before you print.

Can I have it in colour?

Yes — set the module and background colours, and keep the measured contrast at 3:1 or better with the background the lighter of the two.

What size should I print?

The rule of thumb is a tenth of the scanning distance: 2 cm for a code read at 20 cm on a flyer, 10 cm at a metre, and a poster read across a street wants to be measured in tens of centimetres. Use the SVG and the size stops mattering.

Is it safe to scan a code I find?

Treat it like a link from a stranger, because that is what it is. The known scam is a sticker placed over the real code on a parking meter or a restaurant table. Look at the address your phone shows before opening it, and be wary of any code that asks for a payment or a password.

Sources and further reading

• QR code — versions, capacity and error correction levels.
• RFC 5870 — the geo: URI a place is encoded as.
• RFC 5545 — iCalendar, the format behind the event option.