What size should a QR code be for print?

Print is unforgiving: once 5,000 flyers leave the press, a code that is two millimetres too small stays too small. The good news is that the size question has a reliable answer, and you can check yours in about a minute before anything goes to the printer.

Start with the 10:1 distance rule

A printed QR code needs roughly one tenth of the distance it will be scanned from. A code read at 30 cm — a menu, a flyer in someone's hand — needs about 30 mm of width. A poster read from three metres away needs 300 mm. The rule holds across phone models because it describes how many camera pixels land on each module of the grid, not the brand of the camera.

Then check how much data you are encoding

The rule above assumes a short payload. Every extra character adds modules to the grid, and more modules in the same physical width means each module gets smaller. A 40-character link at 30 mm is comfortable; the same 30 mm holding a 160-character link with UTM parameters is a gamble.

Our free checker does both calculations at once. Paste the exact payload, enter the printed width you have in the layout and the distance people will scan from.

The verdict panel turns those three numbers into one decision. In the capture below, a 120-character tracked link printed at 18 mm and read from 2.5 m needs 250 mm — it would have failed on every single poster.

Shortening the payload is almost always cheaper than redesigning the layout. A dynamic code encodes a short redirect link of around 30 characters instead of your full tracked URL, so the grid stays coarse no matter how long the real destination is — and you can change that destination after printing.

Leave the quiet zone empty

A QR code needs a clear margin around it, four modules wide, so the scanner can find where the grid starts. On a 30 mm code that is roughly 3 to 4 mm of empty space on all four sides. Text, a logo, a fold, a die-cut or the edge of a coloured block inside that margin breaks detection even when the code itself is perfect.

• Keep the quiet zone the same colour as the code background, not just "light".
• Add the margin inside your artwork, not by trusting the printer's bleed.
• Keep folds, staples, seams and cut lines at least 5 mm away from the code.
• On a dark design, a light code on a dark background works — the contrast matters, not which one is darker.

Use vector, not pixels

A QR code is pure geometry, so there is no reason to print pixels. PNG and JPG have a fixed resolution: scaled up on a large format they soften the module edges, and soft edges are exactly what makes a scanner hesitate. A vector file prints crisp at any size — 20 mm on a label or 2 m on a banner, from the same file.

Export a print-ready PDF at the exact size

In the editor, pick PDF as the download format and then pick the print size — 20, 30, 40 or 50 mm. The file comes out as a vector page at exactly that width, with a 4 mm quiet zone already built in, so the print shop can place it without rescaling anything. SVG and PDF are available on Pro and Business; the free plan exports PNG and JPG.

Proof it before the print run

1. Print one page on the real stock, at the real size — not scaled to fit.
2. Scan it with an old phone, not your newest one.
3. Scan it from the real distance, in the real light: a dim restaurant, a sunlit window, a night-time street.
4. Scan it at an angle, roughly 30 degrees off, the way people actually hold a phone.
5. If it is a dynamic code, confirm the destination opens on mobile data, not only on your office Wi-Fi.