How to Make a QR Code: A Step-by-Step Guide

What a QR code actually does when someone scans it depends entirely on the type of data encoded into it — the pattern itself just carries information, so choosing the right encoding matters more than any styling choice.

• URL — opens any web page directly; the simplest and most reliable option for menus, portfolios, or landing pages.
• PDF — points at a hosted PDF link (menu, brochure, resume) so it opens straight in the phone’s browser.
• Multi-URL — splits scans across two or more links at random, useful for A/B testing which of several landing pages performs better.
• Contact card — encodes a vCard, so scanning saves a name, phone, email, and address straight into the recipient’s contacts app with no typing.
• Plain text — shows raw text on screen; good for short instructions or notes without opening any app.
• App download — combines an iOS and an Android store link into one code that sends each visitor to the correct store automatically.
• SMS / Email / Phone — pre-fills a text message, email draft, or dial screen so the recipient only has to hit send or call.
• Social profile — links straight to a Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, YouTube, Spotify, Telegram, or Discord profile.

Most of the types above encode your data directly into the black-and-white pattern — the phone’s camera decodes the URL, text, or contact card right there, with no server involved. That’s a static QR code: it works forever, even offline, and nothing you scan is ever sent anywhere else.

Multi-URL and combined App codes work differently, because a single pattern can’t literally point at two destinations. Those two route through a small page first, which reads the destinations out of the code itself and immediately forwards the visitor — picking one link at random for Multi-URL, or checking whether the phone is iOS or Android for App links. No account or database is involved; the logic runs entirely in the visitor’s own browser off data baked into the link. The trade-off is that these two types need an internet connection to resolve, unlike a plain static code.

A QR code scans by contrast, not by color — the pattern needs to stand out clearly from its background. Dark modules on a light background scan reliably; light-on-dark or two similarly-bright colors often don’t, even if they look fine on a screen.

Error correction controls how much of the code can be damaged, dirty, or partially obscured and still scan. Higher levels are worth choosing if the code will be printed small, laminated, or handled roughly, but they also make the pattern denser — for a clean digital screen, a lower level keeps the code simpler without adding real risk.

As a rule of thumb, a QR code needs to be roughly one-tenth of its scanning distance across — a code meant to be scanned from arm’s length (about 30 cm) should be at least 3 cm square; one on a poster read from 2 metres away needs to be closer to 20 cm.

Leave a clear quiet zone — blank space — around the whole code, at least as wide as one of its own modules. Cropping it tight against text, images, or the edge of a card is the single most common reason a code that looks fine on screen fails to scan in person.

Scan the code yourself with at least two different phones and camera apps before it goes anywhere permanent — some default camera apps read QR codes more strictly than others, and a code that works on one may not on another.

For Multi-URL and App codes specifically, test from both an iOS and an Android device to confirm each one lands on the destination you actually intended.

Because a static code bakes its destination in permanently, printing one for a link you don’t fully control yet — a "coming soon" page, an early beta URL — is a common way to end up with a stack of flyers pointing nowhere. Confirm the destination is final before it goes to print.