Free QR Code Generator

How to use the QR Code Generator

1. Type or paste the link or text you want the code to open. A website address is the most common choice.
2. Pick foreground and background colours to match your branding, and set the pixel size for print or screen.
3. Download the image and place it on your menu, flyer, invoice, packaging or shop window.

When to use it

QR codes work best when they save someone typing: a restaurant menu, a Wi-Fi password, a Google review link on a receipt, a product page on packaging, or a payment link on an invoice. Because the code is generated locally and points directly at your link, there is no redirect service in the middle, which means it does not expire, does not show ads, and keeps working if this site ever goes away.

What the settings change

The content is encoded exactly as typed: a web address, a line of text, a Wi-Fi string or contact details. Foreground is the colour of the modules (the squares) and background the colour behind them; readers need strong contrast and a dark pattern on a light background, so a light logo colour on white will fail. Size sets the pixel dimensions of the downloaded image; for print, generate large (1000 pixels or more) and let the printer scale down, because a small code scaled up goes blurry. Longer content produces a denser code, which is harder to scan when small.

Worked example

A café puts its menu online and wants a code on each table. Content: the menu page address. Colours: dark brown on cream, which scans fine because the contrast is high. Size: 1200 pixels, printed at 4 cm on a table tent. A second code for the Google review link goes on the bottom of receipts at 2 cm: same colours, but the receipt printer is low resolution, so the content is kept short (a shortened link) to keep the pattern coarse. Both are tested with two different phones before printing 200 of them.

Common mistakes

• Low contrast. Yellow on white, grey on grey, or a light pattern on a dark background: many readers fail.
• Long URLs. Tracking parameters and long paths make dense codes. Shorten the link first.
• No quiet zone. Codes need a clear margin around them; do not butt text or borders up against the pattern.
• Printing without scanning first. Test on paper, at the final size, with more than one phone.

When this tool is the wrong one

It makes a static code: the content is fixed once printed. If you need to change the destination later or count scans, that requires a redirect link you control (a short URL you can edit), which is not something this page provides. To check what an existing code contains, the QR Code Reader; to add campaign tracking to the link before encoding it, the UTM Link Builder.

Good to know

Keep the contrast high: dark foreground on a light background scans most reliably. Test the printed code with two different phones before ordering a large print run. Shorter links produce simpler codes that scan from further away, so consider a short URL for anything printed small.