Frequently Asked Questions

154 answers on making, styling, printing and scanning codes, grouped into 14 topics. Search below, or open the topic your question belongs to. If yours isn't here, ask us and we answer.

Getting started

The questions people ask in their first few minutes here: what is free, what needs an account, and which of the two apps to use for what. If you already know what you want to make, the generator needs nothing from you and no sign-up.

How QR codes work

What is really in the pattern, how much of it can be damaged before a scan fails, and what a camera is doing when it finds one. Useful before you decide how small to print.

Static and dynamic codes

The one decision that cannot be undone after a print run. A static code carries your content in the pattern and is fixed forever; a dynamic code carries a short link you can repoint afterwards. Everything else on this page follows from that.

Customizing your code

Almost every styling question is really the same question: how far can this go before it stops scanning. The editor scores that as you work, and these answers explain what it is measuring and which changes carry real risk.

Downloading and printing

Getting the file out, and getting it onto paper so it still reads. Size, resolution, quiet zone and material all matter more than anything you did in the editor, and a code that is wrong on press is expensive in a way a code that is wrong on screen is not.

Scanning, and what to do when it fails

Most scanning failures come down to four things: contrast, size, the quiet zone, and the destination being wrong rather than the code. These answers work through them in the order worth checking.

Barcodes

One-dimensional codes follow different rules from QR: the number usually has to come from somewhere official, the format is decided by where the label goes, and laser scanners are stricter about contrast than a phone camera is.

Accounts and scan analytics

An account exists for the things that need a server: codes you can repoint, and the scan counts behind them. These answers cover both, including the specific fields a scan records and the ones it deliberately does not.

Pricing and limits

Making and printing codes is free and stays free. What is paid for is the part that runs on a server. These answers cover where that line sits, and what happens to codes you have already printed if a plan ends.

Privacy and security

Two separate questions people arrive with, and they have different answers. What we can see about the codes you make is one; whether a code someone else made is safe to scan is the other.

Commercial use and support

What you are allowed to do with a code you made here, and how to get hold of us when something is wrong. Short section, but they are the two questions a business asks before committing to a print run.

Digital business cards

A card is a page you own with a permanent code pointing at it, which is why a printed card does not go stale when your job title does. These answers cover what a visitor sees, what gets saved to their phone, and what you can change afterwards.

Pet ID tags

A tag on a collar that a stranger can scan with no app. These answers cover what that stranger is shown, how they reach you without being given your number, and what changes when you mark a pet lost.

Vehicle ID tags

A sticker that lets a stranger tell you your lights are on or you are blocking a driveway. These answers cover the two contact modes, what reaches you and how, and exactly how long each piece of it is retained.