QR code generator
Nine kinds of code, from a link to a calendar invitation. No account, no expiry, and the quiet zone and contrast are handled before you download rather than after it fails.
How do I make a QR code?
To make a QR code, choose what it should do (open a website, start a WhatsApp chat, dial a number, save a contact card, add a date to a calendar), fill in the one field it needs, then download the SVG or PDF for print or the PNG for screens. The four-module quiet zone is included automatically. Codes made here are static and free; a dynamic code, editable after printing, needs an account.
Opens a page. The only kind that can be made re-pointable later.
Advanced
These change how the code prints and how much damage it survives. The defaults are the ones that scan.
H, recovers 30%. Set by the centre mark.
The PDF carries the border but not the mark. Take the SVG if you need it.
A code with a mark in it needs about 20% more printed width than one without. The size calculator accounts for it.
Every code from the free tool carries the Klip mark. A code without it, or with your own logo in the middle, comes with a plan.
Roughly one tenth of the distance people read it from. A table tent at 12 inches wants 1.2 inches of code, the calculator does the arithmetic.
SVG for anything printed. It stays sharp at any size. PNG is fine on a screen.
A static code has nothing to expire. A Klip link keeps redirecting for as long as the account exists, on free plans too.
Static and dynamic codes are not the same thing
A static code encodes the destination itself. It is free forever and works without any service behind it, and it cannot be changed or measured. A dynamic code encodes a short link, which means the destination can be re-pointed after ten thousand flyers are printed, and every scan is counted.The full comparison is here.
Before you send it to print
- Check the size against the distance it will be scanned from, the calculator does the arithmetic.
- Keep the quiet zone. Do not let a layout crop into the white margin.
- Test the actual exported file on at least an iPhone camera, an Android phone and one cheap third-party scanner app.
- Test after your designer has styled it, not before. Colour and logo changes are what break codes.
Questions
The things people ask before they commit something to paper.
Can a QR code do more than open a website?
Yes, and most of the useful ones do. A code can start a WhatsApp chat, dial a number, open a text message with the wording already in it, save a contact card straight to the phone's address book, open a map pin, or just show a line of text. The code carries the instruction; the phone's operating system decides what to open.
What is a contact card QR code?
It encodes a vCard, the format phones use for address book entries, so scanning it offers to save your name, company, phone, email and address in one step. It is what belongs on a business card, because it removes the typing that stops people saving your number at all.
Why does the WhatsApp code work without saving the number first?
Because it encodes a wa.me link rather than a phone number. WhatsApp opens a chat with that number directly, which is the entire point on a flyer or a shopfront: nobody has to add a contact before messaging you.
Can I get a print-ready PDF?
Yes. The PDF is real vector geometry built from the module matrix, not a picture of a code, so it stays exact at any size. That is what a print shop means when it asks for vector. The captioned border is carried into it too; the Klip mark is not, because that needs path machinery the PDF format deliberately avoids.
Is this QR code generator really free?
Yes. No signup, no expiry, no cap on how many you make. Every code carries the small Klip mark in the middle; a code without it, or with your own logo, comes with a plan. They are static: the destination is encoded directly, so it cannot be changed later. Changing a destination after printing needs a dynamic code, which requires an account because it is a link that has to be hosted.
Should I download SVG or PNG?
SVG for anything printed. It is vector, so it scales to a billboard without softening the module edges that scanners rely on. PNG for screens, email and any tool that will not accept vector input. Both come from the same renderer at the same error-correction level.
What error correction level should I choose?
M is right for most printing. Use Q or H where the code may be scuffed, curved or partly covered, and H whenever a logo sits on top. Higher levels add modules, which makes the pattern finer at the same width, so pair H with a slightly larger print.
Can I change where this code points later?
Not this one. A static code has the destination baked into the pattern, so the only way to change it is to reprint. A dynamic Klip code encodes a short link instead, which is what makes the destination editable after printing and scans countable.