Business cards with QR codes: what to put in the code

The QR code on a business card should hold one thing: either a short link to a page you own, or your contact details as a vCard, ready to save to the phone. Your choice decides how dense the code gets, whether you can change it after printing, and whether it works offline.

Link or vCard

A link is the right call when your details may change (a new number, a new address) or when you want to show more than contact info: portfolio, opening hours, a map. Put the link on your own domain, not on a URL shortener or a "dynamic QR" service tied to an account. If the service shuts down or the account lapses, the code on every card you've handed out leads nowhere.

A vCard is the right call when you want people to have you in their contacts right away, with no extra steps. vCard is a standard format (RFC 6350, version 4.0) with fields for everything on a business card: name (FN, N), phone (TEL), email (EMAIL), company (ORG), job title (TITLE), website (URL) and address (ADR).

Our advice for vCards: include only what's on the card and nothing more. Every field makes the code denser, and a dense code needs more room to scan easily.

How much room to give it

A QR code is made of small squares called modules. The smallest version is 21 × 21 modules, the largest 177 × 177. The more data you put in, the more modules the code needs, and on the same area each module gets smaller.

Two rules from Denso Wave, the company that invented the QR code:

• The quiet zone: leave a clear margin at least 4 modules wide on every side. Without it, the phone may not find the edges of the code. On a crowded business card, this is the first rule that gets broken.
• Code size follows module size. Once you know how many modules the code has and how small a module can be while still printing cleanly, the final size works itself out. If it doesn't fit, cut the data, not the margin.

Error correction level

A QR code can still be read when part of it is dirty or covered, thanks to error correction. There are four levels: L, M, Q and H. Denso Wave says M (15%) is the one chosen most often, while Q or H are used where the code may get dirty. The trade-off with a higher level: the code gets bigger or denser.

On a business card, M is usually enough. If you put your logo in the middle of the code, go up a level, since the logo covers some of the modules.

Colors and finishes

• Dark code on a light background. A light gray code, or one printed over a colorful photo, is hard to read.
• If you want the code in your brand color, pick a dark shade and test it on the printed proof.
• Gloss lamination or metallic foil over the code can cause reflections that confuse the camera. Keep them away from it.

The test before printing

1. Print a proof at actual size. Don't just look at it on screen.
2. Scan it with an iPhone, from the Camera app: hold the phone so the code appears on screen, then tap the link that shows up.
3. Scan it with an Android phone too, from the camera or its scanning app.
4. For a link: open it on mobile data, not the office Wi-Fi, to see how fast the page loads.
5. For a vCard: save the contact and check that names with special characters (ș, ț, ă in Romanian) show correctly in the address book.
6. Scan from the distance you'd hold a business card, in ordinary room lighting.

The rest of the print details, from the safety margin to the trim line, we check before every print run anyway. See the business cards we make.