Design and scanability

Contrast and the quiet zone

Modules must be dark on a light background, with real contrast between them, and the code needs an empty margin on all four sides. Inverted codes and crowded margins are the two most common causes of a code that will not read.

Reviewed August 20, 2026

Steps

1. Keep the modules dark and the background light. Many scanners will not read the inverse at all.
2. Use flat colour rather than a gradient or a photograph behind the matrix.
3. Leave the quiet zone empty on all four sides — no text, no border, no image edge.
4. Check the contrast warning before exporting, and take it seriously.

How to check it worked

Print it in greyscale. If it still scans in black and white, the contrast is genuinely sufficient rather than merely colourful.

What usually goes wrong

• A light code on a dark background, which looks striking and scans poorly.
• A frame or a photo edge sitting inside the quiet zone.
• Two brand colours that differ in hue but barely in lightness.