How big should a printed QR code be?

The rule most printers use: make the code at least a tenth of the distance it’s scanned from. Someone standing 1 metre from a poster needs a code about 10 cm wide. Someone holding a menu 30 cm away needs about 3 cm.

Sizes that work

• Business card: 2 cm is the practical minimum. Keep the link short so the pattern stays simple.
• Table tent or menu: 3 to 4 cm.
• Flyer or shop window: 5 to 8 cm.
• Poster seen from across a room: 20 cm or more.

Density changes everything

Longer content makes more, smaller squares. A short link might be 25 squares across; a contact card can be 60 or more. Denser codes need printing larger to scan from the same distance. Dynamic codes help here: the short qrhippo.online link keeps the pattern simple whatever the destination.

Leave the quiet zone

Scanners need a clear border around the code, four squares wide. Our downloads include it. Don’t crop it off or print text right up to the edge.

Test before you print a thousand

Print one copy at the real size, put it where it’ll live, and scan it with two or three different phones from where people will actually stand. Then order the full run. Make your code and download the PDF for a print-ready version.