Where codes go

QR codes on menus, posters, packaging and everything else

A code is only as good as the surface it is printed on. Here is what each one is for, how far away it will be read from, and the size to print it at.

Every code in the pictures below is a real one, and each does what its picture says — opens a menu, drops a pin on a map, saves a contact.

A folded card standing on a café table, a QR code above the words scan me and the café's name. — Table tents and menus

Read from a chair, an arm's length away, so 25–30 mm square is plenty. Keep it off the fold — a code creased down the middle loses its timing pattern and stops scanning.

A poster taped to a wall, with a large QR code in the middle of it. — Posters and flyers

A code is read from about ten times its own width, so a poster read at two metres needs 20 cm of code. Put it at eye height and leave space around it — a code that touches the artwork has lost its quiet zone.

A billboard above a motorway at sunset, a large QR code in the middle of it and cars passing underneath. — Billboards and road signs

The ten-to-one rule scales brutally: a board read from fifteen metres needs a code a metre and a half across. Aim it where traffic stops — a junction, a slip road, a car park — and print a short address beside it, because nobody scans anything at 100 km/h.

A business card standing on a desk, a QR code beside the name, the email address and the phone number. — Business cards

20 mm on the back, holding a vCard, saves the other person typing your name into their phone. Leave the front to the name — a card that is mostly QR code reads as a leaflet.

A cardboard box with a printed label, a QR code on the front panel below it. — Product packaging

Instructions, ingredients and the manual, without printing them in six languages. Put it on a flat panel, never across an edge or a seam, and clear of where the wrap creases.

A green bottle with a paper label, a QR code printed on the label. — Bottles and cans

A curved surface swallows a code seen from the side, so keep it under 25 mm and centre it on the label where the curve is shallowest. Print it dark on a light label rather than inverted — plenty of scanners will not read a light code on dark glass.

A shop window seen from the street, a QR code decal stuck to the glass at eye height. — Shop windows

The one surface that still sells with the door locked: opening hours, the menu, the order form. Stick it inside the glass at eye height and print it at 8–10 cm — it is read from the pavement, through a reflection.

A brightly wrapped campaign car in a city street, a QR code on its door and another on its bonnet. — Save the environment

One code on the panel does the work of a leaflet run that is read once and dropped. Print it at 25–30 cm — a parked van is read from about three metres — and keep it on a flat panel: a code wrapped around a curve is bent out of square and stops reading.

A pirate treasure-map handbill with a QR code in the middle of it, ringed by the four steps of the hunt. — Treasure hunts and trails

One code per station, never one repeated — a code photographed at the first stop is passed round the group and the hunt is over. At arm's length 25 mm is plenty, so print the clue large and the code small, and laminate it matte: a glossy card in direct sun throws the flash straight back at the camera.

Make one for the surface you have in mind

The builder is free and needs no account to try. Pick a look, paste a link, and download it once it looks right.