Guide2 min read
Printing a QR code: 8 costly mistakes
Too small, no margin, not enough contrast, pointing to the wrong page: eight printing mistakes that make a QR code useless, and how to avoid them.
By L'équipe Bref
A QR code takes ten seconds to generate. Badly printed, it costs a whole campaign. Here are the mistakes we see most often, and how to avoid them.
1. Encoding the final address directly
If the QR holds https://www.yoursite.com/spring-promo-2026?ref=poster, it will be dense, hard to scan, and impossible to fix after printing. Encode a short link: the QR is simpler, and you change the destination whenever you want.
2. Printing it too small
Rule of thumb: the QR's side should be at least a tenth of the scanning distance. Scanned at 30 cm (a flyer), 3 cm is enough. On a poster read from 3 metres, aim for 30 cm. Below 2 cm, many phones struggle.
3. Removing the margin
A QR needs an empty border around it to be detected. Stuck against text or a photo, it becomes unreadable. Keep the file's margin, or make it bigger.
4. Lacking contrast
Dark on light, always. A pale orange QR on a beige background, or white on black, will be read by some phones and not others. Gradients are fine, as long as the lightest colour stays much darker than the background.
5. A logo that is too big
A logo in the centre is a good idea, provided it stays small. Bref shrinks the logo and raises the QR's error correction to compensate, but a logo eating a third of the code is still a gamble.
6. Printing at low resolution
A PNG blown up for a poster turns blurry. Give your printer the SVG: it is sharp at every size.
7. Forgetting to say what to do
A QR on its own invites nobody. Write next to it what people get: "Scan to see the menu", "Sign up in 30 seconds". And add the short address in full for those who prefer typing it.
8. Not testing it for real
Before launching 5,000 copies, print one, at the right size, on the right paper. Scan it with an iPhone and an Android, from the right distance, under the venue's lighting. A glossy or curved surface (a bottle, a shop window) creates reflections that fool the camera.
Bonus: plan what comes next
Once the QR is out in the world, analytics tell you whether it is scanned, when, and on which phones. If nobody scans, the problem may not be the QR but where it is. Read also why you should count scans apart from clicks.
