QR Code Generator

A QR code is just text stored as a pattern of squares, and this makes one from whatever you type: a link, a phone number, a wifi password, a note. The code appears as you type and downloads as a PNG or an SVG. It is generated inside your browser, so what you encode is never sent to us — which matters more here than on most tools, because people put wifi passwords and private links into QR codes.

How to use it

1. Type or paste the text or link you want to encode.
2. Choose an error correction level — raise it if the code will be printed.
3. Set the colours if you want them, or pick one of the pairs shown under the code. The contrast is measured as you go, and a pair that will not scan is refused rather than drawn.
4. Download the PNG for screens, or the SVG if it is going to print at any size.

Examples

• A link to your menu, at error correction H so it still scans when the card gets greasy
• Your wifi name and password, so guests join without reading letters off a card
• Your brand navy on white — 8.4:1, dark enough to scan off a printed card

Frequently asked questions

Do these QR codes expire?

No, and they cannot. The code is not a short link pointing at our server — the text you typed is encoded directly into the pattern, so nothing has to stay online for it to keep working. Print it today and it will still scan in ten years. This is worth knowing because many QR generators give you a redirect through their own domain, which stops working the day they shut down or start charging.

What does error correction actually change?

A QR code stores spare copies of its own data, so a scanner can rebuild the parts it cannot read. Level L tolerates about 7% damage, M about 15%, Q about 25% and H about 30%. Higher levels need more squares for the same text, making the pattern denser. On a screen, L or M is fine. On anything printed — a label, a menu, a box that will get scuffed — go to Q or H.

What colours can I use for a QR code?

Any two, so long as the code is clearly darker than its background. A scanner does not see colour: it turns the image into light and dark and reads the pattern, so what matters is the difference in brightness, not the difference in hue. That is why a mid-blue on a mid-green fails — two obvious colours to you, one flat tone to the camera. Deep, saturated colours work well on white or a pale tint: navy, forest green, maroon, indigo. Bright ones usually do not. A vivid orange on white measures 2.8:1 and a yellow about 1.5:1, against 21:1 for black on white; this tool measures your pair and refuses anything under 3:1 rather than handing you a code that fails at the printer. Two more rules worth keeping: do not invert the code — a light pattern on a dark field defeats scanners that assume the opposite — and if it might be read by a supermarket-style red laser rather than a phone camera, keep red out of the squares, because a red laser sees red as light.

Can I put a logo in the middle?

You can, by placing one over the downloaded image in any editor, and this is why error correction exists. Cover no more than about 20% of the code and generate at level H, so the redundancy can rebuild what the logo hides. Always test the result with a real phone before printing a thousand of them — the centre is not a reserved area, and covering too much makes the code unreadable in a way that is not obvious by eye.

Is my text sent anywhere?

No. The code is generated by your own device and never leaves it. You can prove it: load this page, disconnect from the internet, and the generator still works. That matters here more than elsewhere, because wifi passwords and private links are common things to encode.