Step-by-step guide to creating QR codes for websites, Wi-Fi, business cards, and menus — plus what not to do if you want people to actually scan them.
QR codes quietly became one of the most common ways to share information in the last few years. Menus, receipts, payment terminals, Wi-Fi networks, event check-ins — if there is a way to avoid typing a URL, someone has put a QR code there. Generating one takes about 10 seconds, but generating one that actually works in the wild takes a little more thought.
A QR code is just a two-dimensional barcode that encodes text. The phone scanning it decides how to interpret that text based on its format. Common uses:
Too small and phones cannot read it. A good rule of thumb: the code should be at least 1/10th the distance from which people will scan it. A QR code on a restaurant table can be 2 cm across. One on a store window that people scan from the sidewalk needs to be closer to 15 cm.
Use SVG or a high-resolution PNG for print. Low-res JPGs often produce codes that are technically valid but stubbornly unreliable on some phones.
If your target URL is long and full of tracking parameters (?utm_source=..., ?fbclid=...), the QR code becomes visually denser and harder to scan. Clean it up first — or use a short link — so the code can stay chunky and reliable.
Black code on a white background is the safest choice. Colored codes can look nice, but you need strong contrast between the "data" color and the background. Low-contrast codes (light grey on white, dark blue on dark red) fail under poor lighting — which is exactly where QR codes are used.
Always do a real-world scan before printing 500 flyers or laminating a menu. Phones from three different manufacturers, in three different lighting conditions, is the right test. The number of restaurants that printed unreadable menus during 2020 is depressingly high.
QR codes are at their best when someone is physically standing in front of something and needs a digital destination.
Generating a QR code is trivial; generating one that works for everyone takes ten extra seconds of thought about size, contrast, and the underlying URL. Do those three things and you will never hear the dreaded "it won't scan" again.