QR code size for printing

The working rule, and the one most reliably quoted by scanner manufacturers, is a distance-to-size ratio of about 10:1. Divide the distance people will scan from by ten, and that is the width of the code.

The rule is deliberately generous, because it has to absorb bad light, a shaky hand, an older phone camera, and a code scanned at an angle. Going larger costs layout space; going smaller costs scans. When the two conflict, go larger.

The 10:1 rule assumes a fairly coarse code. What a scanner actually needs is a minimum physical size for each individual module — the small squares the pattern is built from. Around 0.4 mm per module is a safe floor for ordinary printing; below that, ink spread and paper texture start to close the gaps.

That matters because a longer URL means more modules in the same square. A 21-module version 1 code at 2 cm gives each module nearly a millimetre. A 57-module version 10 code at the same 2 cm gives each one about 0.35 mm — already marginal.

Widths include the four-module quiet zone on each side. The generator on this site shows the version and module count under every code, so you can look yours up in this table before sending it to print.

The practical conclusion: shortening the URL is usually cheaper than enlarging the code. Dropping tracking parameters or using a short path on your own domain can move a code down several versions.

Every QR code needs a clear margin around it, four modules wide, with nothing in it. This is the quiet zone, and it is part of the specification rather than a design suggestion. Without it a scanner cannot establish where the symbol ends.

Cropping it is the single most common reason a correctly sized code fails. Designers trim it because it looks like wasted space; the code then sits flush against a coloured panel, a rule, or the trim edge of the page, and read rates collapse.

• Both the PNG and the SVG from this site include the full quiet zone. Do not crop them.
• Keep the margin the same colour as the code’s background — white in these files, unless you chose another background colour.
• On anything that will be trimmed, add extra clearance beyond the bleed line.

Use vector for print

An SVG has no resolution: the printer’s software renders the shapes at whatever size you place them, with perfectly hard module edges. This is what you want for anything going to a commercial printer, and it is the only sensible choice above postcard size.

When a PNG is fine

The 1024 × 1024 px PNG from this site is enough for office printing up to roughly 8 cm at 300 DPI, and considerably larger on signage viewed from a distance, where 150 DPI is normal. Place it at its natural size or smaller; enlarging a bitmap softens exactly the edges the scanner needs.

Contrast beats branding

• Black on white is the reference case and always works.
• Dark ink on a pale, untextured background is usually fine.
• Inverted codes — light modules on a dark background — fail on many scanners.
• Metallic inks, spot UV, and glossy laminates create reflections that blind the camera.
• Never print a code over a photograph or a gradient.

1. Work out the real scanning distance, then size the code at a tenth of it.
2. Check the module count against the density table above.
3. Confirm the quiet zone is intact and sitting on a plain background.
4. Use the SVG for professional print; place the PNG at its natural size or smaller.
5. Print a proof at final size, on the final material.
6. Scan the proof from the real distance, in the real lighting, on more than one phone.
7. Add a short line of text saying what the code does — it measurably increases scans.

Download a print-ready PNG or a vector SVG:Generate a QR code