QR Code Generator

How to use the QR code generator

Choose what the code should do — open a link, show text, join a Wi-Fi network, start an email, call or text a number, or save a contact — and fill in the boxes. The code redraws as you type. Under Options you can pick the error-correction level, the PNG size, the quiet zone (the blank margin) and the colors. Then press Download PNG for documents and social media, or Download SVG for print, where a vector file stays sharp at any size. The working underneath shows exactly what is stored in the code and how big it is.

Everything runs in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded. Only a link — and your option choices — is saved in the page address so you can bookmark or share it; Wi-Fi passwords, contact details and messages never are.

What is stored in each kind of QR code

A QR code only stores text. Phones recognize a few standard formats and offer the matching action. This generator writes these formats, escaping special characters so they survive the trip:

The generator then picks the smallest version that holds the content. Version 1 is 21 × 21 modules, and each version adds 4 modules per side, up to version 40 at 177 × 177. The most a single code can hold in byte mode is 2,953 bytes at level L and 1,273 bytes at level H.

Worked example: a café Wi-Fi code

The network is called Maple St Café and the password is blue;moon:42. Because the semicolon and colon would otherwise end the field early, each gets a backslash, and the code stores:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:Maple St Café;P:blue\;moon\:42;;

That is 46 bytes (the é takes two bytes in UTF-8). At error-correction level M the smallest version that fits is version 4, which holds up to 62 bytes and is 33 × 33 modules. With the standard 4-module quiet zone the image is 41 modules across, so a 1,024-pixel PNG gives 25.0 pixels per module. Choose the Wi-Fi type, type the same details and the working shows these numbers.

Static vs. dynamic QR codes

Many “free” QR sites make dynamic codes: the pattern holds a short link to their server, which forwards people to your real page. That lets you change the destination and count scans, but it also means the code depends on that company. If the free trial ends, the subscription lapses or the service closes, the redirect can stop — and every printed menu, flyer and sign with that code stops working with it.

Every code made here is static: the content is written directly into the pattern, so it never expires and no one can switch it off. If you may need to change where a printed code leads, point it at a page on your own website that you control, and update that page instead.

Error correction, contrast and the quiet zone

• Error correction adds Reed–Solomon codewords so a code still scans when part of it is dirty or damaged: level L restores about 7% of the codewords, M 15%, Q 25% and H 30%. More recovery means more modules.
• Contrast. Scanners look for the difference between dark and light modules. Use a dark code on a light background; the tool shows the contrast ratio and warns when it is low or the colors are inverted.
• Quiet zone. The QR standard calls for a blank margin at least 4 modules wide on every side. Keep it, even when the code sits inside a design — text or graphics touching the code are a common reason for failed scans.

Printing and scanning tips

• Use the SVG for print. It is a vector file, so it stays crisp at any size. For a PNG, pick a size at least as large as the printed code needs: at 300 dpi, a 1,024-pixel image covers about 3.4 inches.
• Bigger is easier to scan. A code that must be read from across a room needs to be much larger than one on a business card, and longer content makes the modules smaller at the same size. Shorten long links before you encode them.
• Test before you print a batch. Scan the proof with both an iPhone and an Android phone, in the light where it will be used.
• Avoid glossy surfaces and curved packaging where reflections or bending can distort the pattern.
• Tell people what they’ll get — “Scan to join our Wi-Fi” or “Scan for the menu” — so they can trust the code.

Stay safe with QR codes

The FTC warns that scammers stick their own codes over real ones on parking meters and send codes in unexpected emails and texts. Before you open a link from a code, check the address your phone shows, and don’t scan codes from messages you weren’t expecting. If you place codes in public, check them now and then for stickers. For strong Wi-Fi and account passwords, try the password generator; to choose on-brand colors, see the HTML color codes.