About QR Code Generator
A QR code is a way to hand a phone something without typing: a menu link on a table, the guest Wi-Fi on a cafe wall, your contact details on a business card. Choose what the code should do, fill in the boxes, and the code appears as you type.
Nothing sits between the code and your content. Many QR services print a short link of their own and forward people from there, which lets them count scans and also means the code dies if the service closes or the subscription lapses. Here the address or text is written into the pattern itself, so the code works as long as the destination does. You leave with a PNG for documents and screens, and an SVG that stays sharp at any print size.
How it works
The encoder follows ISO/IEC 18004 for Model 2 QR codes, versions 1 to 40. It looks at your content and picks the most compact mode: digits only, the small uppercase alphanumeric set, or UTF-8 bytes for everything else. It then finds the smallest version that fits at your chosen error correction level, adds Reed-Solomon recovery data, tries all eight mask patterns and keeps the one with the lowest penalty score from the standard.
Wi-Fi codes use the WIFI: format that phone cameras recognize, with special characters escaped, so a network called Cafe;Guest does not break the code. Contact codes are written as vCard 3.0, and empty fields are left out to keep the pattern small. Every file includes the four-module blank margin that scanners rely on.
How to use QR Code Generator
- Under What should the code do?, choose Website, Text, Wi-Fi or Contact.
- Fill in the boxes, or press Try an example to see one filled in. If you type a bare web address,
https://is added for you. - Open Color, size and error correction if you want to change the colors, the PNG size or the amount of recovery data.
- Scan the code on screen with your phone, then press Download PNG or Download SVG. Copy contents gives you the exact text inside the code.
A real run with a bare web address
Web address: example.com/menu
Error correction: MediumEncoded as: https://example.com/menu
Size: 25 × 25 modules
Version: 2
Data: 24 bytes
Encoding: UTF-8 bytes
Files: qr-code-website.png (1023 px), qr-code-website.svgThe scheme was added so phones offer to open the link rather than treating it as plain text. Shorter content means fewer modules, and fewer modules scan more easily from a distance.
When it helps
- A table tent that opens today's menu without anyone typing an address
- A framed Wi-Fi code in a guest room or waiting area, so nobody has to read out a long password
- A contact code on the back of a business card or conference badge
- A link on a printed poster or flyer, exported as SVG so the printer can scale it cleanly
Tips for a better result
- Keep the content short. A long tracking link makes a denser pattern, and at version 15 or above the tool warns you that phone cameras may struggle unless it is printed large.
- Raise error correction when the code will get scuffed, sit outdoors or be printed on a curved surface. High recovers from about 30% damage but needs more modules for the same content.
- Stick with a dark code on a light background. The tool warns about inverted colors and about contrast under 4 to 1, because many scanners fail on those.
Good to know
- There are no scan counts and no way to change the destination later, because no service sits in the middle. Changing the content means printing a new code.
- You cannot place a logo in the middle of the code. Add one in a design program if you must, and raise error correction first, then test it.
- Capacity tops out at 2,331 bytes at the Medium level and 2,953 at Low, and a code that full is too dense for most phones to read.
- A Wi-Fi code holds the password as readable text. Anyone who scans it, or photographs it and reads it with an app, can see the password.
Questions people ask
Do these QR codes expire?
No. The content is stored in the pattern itself and no redirect service is involved, so nothing can switch off. A website code stops being useful only if the web page it points to goes away.
Should I download PNG or SVG?
Use SVG for print and for anything that will be resized, because it is made of shapes and stays sharp. Use PNG for documents, slides and places that do not accept SVG, and pick a size in the options.
Why did I get a 1023 pixel image when I chose 1024?
Each module is drawn at a whole number of pixels so the edges stay clean. A 25 module code plus its 8 modules of margin is 33 modules across, and 31 pixels each gives 1023. Rounding to exactly 1024 would blur the edges.
What to use next
- QR Code Reader: to confirm what a finished code really contains
- Barcode Generator: if a shop or warehouse scanner needs a one-dimensional code
- Image Watermark: to put your name on an image before it goes out with the code
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