Tips on Size, Margin and Color When Printing a QR Code

Published: Oct 19, 2026 | Updated: Oct 19, 2026 | About (Japanese)

Key points

Not too small: about 2 cm square or more
Keep the white margin around it
White background, dark pattern

How well a QR code scans depends a lot on how you print it.

Size

As a rule, about 2 cm square or more; ideally 3 cm or more.
For scanning from a distance, make it larger. About one tenth of the scanning distance is one guide.
A long URL makes the pattern dense, so make it larger accordingly.

Margin

A QR code needs a white margin (quiet zone) around it. Images made with Create a QR Code include one.
Do not trim the margin. Avoid overlapping text or pictures onto it.

Color

White background, dark pattern. In this tool you can choose black, navy, teal or maroon.
Light colors, colors close to the background, or a background lighter than the pattern are hard to scan.
Inverting it (white pattern on black) is unreadable in some apps.

Paper and printing

Glossy paper can reflect light and make scanning hard.
Do not print a stretched, blurry image. Save the PNG at a larger size (2000px) or use SVG.

Always test

After printing, scan it with a phone camera to check. If possible, try phones of different models.

Use "Create a QR Code (URL, Wi-Fi)" (free)

Tools that go well with this

Compress & Resize Images: Make image files smaller, and resize them if you like.
Convert Image Format (JPG, PNG, WebP): Convert images to JPG, PNG or WebP, several at once.
Photos to PDF: Combine several photos into one PDF in the order you choose. You can rotate, reorder and set a size limit.

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