A flyer QR code connects a piece of paper to a web page, such as a sign-up form, a menu, a ticket page, or a sale. Paste the link into the box above, click Generate, and drop the downloaded PNG into your design. On a flyer the code competes with everything else on the page, so the line beside it matters as much as the code.
Make my QR code ↑A bare square on a page invites no one. Beside the code, add a short call to action that names the payoff: "Scan to book a table", "Scan for the schedule", "Scan to sign up". Keep it to one line and place it right next to the code, not across the page.
Give each code one destination, and point it at a page whose address you control, since the printed code cannot be edited. You can change the words on that page later without touching the flyer. If the flyer has three jobs, make three clearly labeled codes or send people to one page that lists them. Two unlabeled codes side by side leave people guessing.
The code is dark squares on white, and it scans best that way. Put it on a plain light area, never over a photo or a pattern. Don't print it reversed, with light squares on a dark panel, and don't stretch it into a rectangle.
Leave an empty border around it, roughly the width of four of its small squares. Keep folds, staples, and page edges out of that border. This empty margin is what lets a phone camera tell where the code starts and stops, so crowding it with text or artwork is a common reason a printed code fails.
The download is 400 x 400 pixels. That is about 1.3 inches at 300 dpi and about 2.7 inches at 150 dpi, so it stays clean up to roughly 2 to 3 inches printed and gets soft if you enlarge it much beyond that. For anything bigger, print a test and scan it at final size.
A code needs about one-tenth of the distance people will scan from. A flyer read at arm's length (about 2 feet) wants about 2.4 inches (6 cm), and a poster read from 3 feet wants about 4 inches (10 cm), which is at the soft end for this file. About 0.8 inch (2 cm) is the bare minimum, and only for something held close.
Name the payoff in a few words, such as "Scan to book a table" or "Scan for the schedule". A bare code gives people no reason to lift their phone, so keep the line to one row and set it right beside the code.
Use about one-tenth of the distance people will scan from: roughly 2.4 inches (6 cm) at arm's length and 4 inches (10 cm) across a table. The PNG is 400 pixels square and stays clean up to about 2 to 3 inches printed, so for a larger sign print a test and scan it at final size.
You can, but give each its own label and keep them well apart. In most cases one code leading to one page is stronger. If you need several actions, link to a single page that offers all of them.
Common causes are a code that is too small, printed over a busy background, stretched out of square, folded, or missing its empty border. Glossy paper can also reflect light. Scan a test print under real lighting and fix whichever applies.
You can, but a shiny coating may reflect light back at the camera. A matte or satin finish can be easier to scan, so ask your printer, and scan a test print under the lighting the flyer will really be read in.
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