QR code generator, free PNG download

How to use the QR code generator

1. Pick a content type. Link is the usual choice; wifi and contact modes build the specially formatted strings that phones recognise as network credentials and contact cards.
2. Fill in the fields. For wifi, the network name is case sensitive and must match exactly or the phone will fail to connect with no useful error.
3. Set the size and error correction. 512 pixels suits screens and small print; go higher for anything larger than a postcard.
4. Press Generate QR code, scan it with your own phone to confirm it works, then download as PNG for digital use or SVG for print.

What you can use it for

Restaurant menus, event check-ins and product packaging all use QR codes to move someone from the physical world to a web page without typing. The adoption problem solved itself when phone cameras started reading codes natively, and the pattern is now completely normal.

Wifi codes are quietly one of the most useful applications. A printed code on a card by the door lets guests join without you reading out a twenty-character password, and it works on both iOS and Android from the camera app with no additional software.

Contact cards on business cards and email signatures save the recipient from typing your details. Scanning fills in a new contact with your name, organisation, phone, email and website already populated, which people are far more likely to actually save.

Creators use them to bridge offline to online. A code at the end of a video, on a flyer, or on a slide gets people to a link they would never type. Point it at a link-in-bio page rather than a single URL, and you can change the destination later without reprinting anything.

Things to know about QR codes

Error correction determines how much of the code can be damaged or covered while remaining readable. Level L recovers 7%, level H recovers 30%. Higher levels make the pattern denser for the same content, which is a fair trade for anything printed, scuffed, or with a logo placed over the centre.

More content means a denser code. A short URL produces a clean, easily scanned pattern; a long URL with tracking parameters produces a dense one that struggles at small sizes or in poor light. Shorten your links before encoding them — it visibly improves scan reliability.

Contrast matters more than colour. Dark foreground on light background is what scanners expect, and inverting it stops many readers working entirely. Keep at least 4.5:1 contrast between the two, and keep the quiet zone — the empty margin around the code — clear.

Print size follows scanning distance. The usual rule is that the code should be about a tenth of the distance it will be scanned from: two centimetres for a business card held in the hand, twenty for a poster read from two metres. Always test a printed proof at the real distance before ordering a run.

Frequently asked questions