Give diners your menu without printing a new one every time prices change. Point the code at your online or PDF menu and put it on the table.
The code carries the address, not the menu, which is why changing a price on the page changes what every printed table tent shows. That only holds while the address stays put. Host the menu somewhere you control and treat the URL as permanent once it is on a table.
Enter content to generate QR code
A menu code is a link code with a job: it encodes the address of a menu you host (a page on your site, a PDF, a file in cloud storage), and the diner’s browser opens it. The menu itself lives wherever you put it, which is what lets you change a price without touching the table tent, provided the address stays the same.
You typed “example.com/menu.pdf”, and the code holds:
https://example.com/menu.pdfJust the address, with https:// added. The menu itself is not in the code and never could be, which is exactly what lets you change the menu without touching the table tent.
The code is only as permanent as the URL inside it. A page on your own domain is the safest home; a PDF is fine if you replace the file at the same path rather than uploading a new one beside it. Avoid links from a design tool’s share button or a cloud drive’s "share" dialog: those addresses often expire, change when permissions change, or force a download instead of displaying.
A PDF laid out for A4 opens on a phone as a page the diner has to pinch and drag through in dim light, which is the single most common complaint about QR menus. A plain web page that reflows beats a beautiful PDF every time. If a PDF is all you have, at least set it portrait and use type large enough to read at 100% zoom.
Some of your customers will have a flat battery, a cracked camera, poor eyesight or no smartphone at all. A stack of printed menus behind the bar costs almost nothing and prevents the one bad experience a QR menu can create. Treat the code as the fast path, not the only path.
If the menu moves between addresses — a summer menu at one URL, a Christmas one at another — a static code forces a reprint each time. A dynamic QR code encodes a fixed short link you repoint, so the table tents survive every change, and its scan counts tell you how many diners actually opened the menu at each site.
Put the menu somewhere with a public link — a page on your website, a PDF, a hosted file — then paste that link here, style the code and download it for printing. The code carries the address, not the menu.
Yes, as long as the address stays the same: edit the page or replace the file in place and every printed code follows. If the address itself has to change, use a dynamic QR code, which encodes a fixed short link you can repoint at any time.
At least 2 x 2 cm for a table tent read at arm’s length, and larger for a window menu people scan from the sidewalk. Leave a clear margin around the pattern and avoid a glossy finish, which reflects light back into the camera.
A web page, if you have the choice. PDFs laid out for paper make diners pinch and scroll in low light. If you must use a PDF, keep it portrait with large type so it is readable without zooming.
No. Every current iPhone and Android camera reads QR codes natively. They point, and a link banner appears. Keeping a few paper menus behind the bar covers the rest.
Only with a dynamic QR code, which counts each scan with the date, country and device. A static code involves no server, so there is nothing anywhere that could count it.