QR CODES FOR PRINT
QR codes for printed material you cannot recall
Print is the one channel with no undo. The paper is either right or it is wasted, and the page behind the code will outlive the offer that was on it. Two decisions carry most of that risk: whether every printed piece gets its own code, and whether the destination can be repointed once the ink is dry.
QUICK OVERVIEW
What this changes in practice
01
Decide what each piece is asking for
A printed piece is a context, not a surface. A flyer is held at arm’s length and can afford a specific request. A poster is read from across a pavement and gets one instruction. A brochure code belongs beside the paragraph it extends rather than alone on the back cover, and a mailer is opened at a kitchen table where a longer page is fine.
Write the instruction next to the code, not on it. “Scan to book a table” outperforms “Scan me” everywhere it has been compared, because the second one asks the reader to gamble a few seconds on an unknown.
- Flyer and leaflet: one offer, one page, one action
- Poster and billboard: a short destination readable in seconds
- Brochure and catalogue: the extension of a specific spread
- Mailer and insert: registration, warranty, reorder
- Window, shelf and signage: opening times, menu, stock, directions
02
One code per piece, even when the destination is shared
Codes cost nothing to create and every one of them is a separate line in the report. Give each poster site, each flyer version, each brochure spread and each city its own code, then point them all at the same page if that is what the campaign needs. What you buy is the ability to answer a question you have not thought of yet — which site earned its rent, whether the A5 or the A6 pulled better.
Name them the day you make them, and tag the destinations with UTM parameters so web analytics can attribute the sessions too. A convention that works: the source names the medium as physical, the medium names the surface, and the campaign matches the name the code already carries.
03
Size comes from reading distance, not from the layout
The working rule is that a code should be about a tenth of the distance it is read from, and it is a floor rather than a target. A flyer read at thirty centimetres needs roughly three; a poster meant to be scanned from three metres away needs thirty, which is far larger than most layouts assume and is the single most common reason a printed campaign underperforms.
Two things push the number up. A long URL means more modules in the same square, so each one is smaller — keep the destination short. And uncoated, recycled or textured stock spreads ink and softens edges, which costs you effective resolution before a phone ever sees it.
04
Send vector, and say what must not happen to it
Supply an SVG so the code arrives as geometry rather than pixels. If the workflow demands raster, generate it at the final printed size at 300 dpi or more, and never scale a small file up.
Then state the constraints, because a layout artist who has never printed a code will not guess them: nothing crosses the quiet zone, no fold and no trim line runs through the matrix, the code is not inverted to light-on-dark to match the design, and spot varnish or lamination over it is tested before the run rather than after.
- Vector artwork, or raster generated at final size
- Quiet zone kept clear on all four sides
- No fold, trim, crease or perforation through the code
- Dark modules on a light ground, never inverted
- Gloss, foil and varnish tested on a real proof
05
What changes after the run
The most common failure of an old flyer is not the code — it is that the page behind it is gone. A dynamic code keeps the printed matrix fixed while the destination stays editable, so an expired offer becomes a current one instead of a dead link, and a campaign page that moves takes nothing down with it.
That editability is also access: anyone who can change the destination can point your printed material anywhere. Treat the account that owns a printed code with the same care as the account that owns your website.
06
Proof one before you print thirty thousand
Print a single piece at final size on the real stock, from the real file, and scan it — not the PDF on a monitor, which is backlit, perfectly flat and lies to you about every one of these problems.
Scan it on an iPhone and on an Android, at the distance the reader will hold it, in the light the placement actually has: a shop window at midday, a corridor at dusk, a table under a warm bulb. Then check the destination one more time before the file goes to the press.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can I change where a printed flyer’s QR code points?
Only if it was printed as a dynamic code. A static code carries the destination inside the matrix and can never be edited; a dynamic one carries a short address that resolves through a redirect you control, so the destination changes and the printed piece keeps working.
How big should a QR code be on a flyer or a poster?
Start from the distance it will be read at and take a tenth of it as the floor: about three centimetres for a flyer held in the hand, considerably more for a poster read from the pavement. Add size for a long URL or a rough, absorbent stock.
Should every poster site get its own QR code?
Yes, whenever you might later want to compare them. They can all point at the same destination. One shared code across twenty sites answers how many people scanned and nothing else.
Which file should I send the printer?
An SVG, so the code arrives as vector geometry and can be placed at any size. If the printer insists on raster, generate it at the final printed size at 300 dpi or more.
Do QR codes work on newsprint or uncoated stock?
They do, with room to spare. Absorbent stock spreads ink and softens module edges, so print larger than the minimum, raise the error-correction level, and test a real proof from the same press and paper.
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