Prepare a QR code for print: border, size, color, and logo

Reserve the border in your layout

The blank area around a QR symbol is called the quiet zone. DENSO WAVE specifies four modules on each side; a module is one small square of the pattern. Leave that space clear of captions, frames, neighboring images, and crop marks.

Treat the border as part of the artwork when placing an export. Do not crop it away to make the pattern fit. If you add a colored card or photograph behind the QR, keep a plain light panel around the full symbol. Check the final page export, because a layout tool may crop differently from the generator preview.

Convert pixels to a physical size

For a raster image, printed width in millimeters equals pixel width divided by pixels per inch, multiplied by 25.4. At 300 pixels per inch, a 300-pixel image occupies 25.4 mm; a 1000-pixel image occupies about 84.7 mm. These are arithmetic examples, not universal minimum scan sizes.

The same image can be placed at a different physical width in your print document. That changes its effective resolution. More content can produce a denser pattern, so two QR codes printed at the same width need not be equally easy to scan. Test at the intended paper size and viewing distance.

300 px ÷ 300 pixels/inch × 25.4 mm/inch = 25.4 mm

Choose a file and a restrained design

Use SVG when your layout application supports vector artwork and verify that it remains vector in the final export. Use PNG for an image workflow. Avoid repeatedly saving a QR as a lossy JPG or relying on a screenshot taken at an unknown resolution.

Start with dark modules on a light background. Establish that the plain design works before adding a logo. Keep the logo simple and compare the final exported file against the plain version. Error correction is not a license to cover an arbitrary percentage of the pattern: location and the rest of the design matter.

Build a fixed-size PDF with a readable fallback

Print-ready QR templates provides an 85 × 55 mm business card, a 50 × 50 mm square sticker, a 210 × 297 mm A4 poster, and a folded table card on an A4 sheet. These dimensions describe the whole page, not the QR symbol. The templates generate a plain dark-on-white QR; they do not import the colors or logo from another generator.

For a sample repair label, set Headline to Repair instructions, Readable fallback to example.com/repair-guide, and QR content or URL to https://example.com/repair-guide. This is a fictional destination: replace both addresses with your own. The fallback is separate printed text, so changing it does not update the encoded URL. A square sticker uses the fallback instead of Subtext when both are supplied.

1. Choose the Print template, enter your headline and content, and inspect the preview. Shorten text if the tool reports that it cannot fit; check that a wrapped address is still readable.
2. Download PDF for a page with fixed physical dimensions. It embeds raster artwork at 300 pixels per inch, rather than a vector QR. Download PNG is useful for other layouts, but check the placed image dimensions in that application.
3. Print the PDF at Actual size or 100%, with fit-to-page scaling disabled. The files represent individual pages, not sheets of repeated labels, and do not provide full bleed or cutting marks.
4. For the table card, fold at the dotted line halfway down the A4 sheet, 148.5 mm from the edge, and use a holder. The upper panel is deliberately upside down before folding.

• Open the fixed-size PDF templates →

Run a small print trial

1. Place the QR at its final size with its actual caption and background.
2. Print one sample on the intended stock. Include the lamination or protective cover if one will be used.
3. Scan the finished sample at the expected distance and under the location’s lighting. Try more than one device if visitors will use varied phones.
4. Confirm both the decoded value and the final action. Record the tested file so a later edit does not accidentally replace it.