QR Code and 2D Code Generator

This page is an online two dimensional code generator which is written in PHP. It can generate QR Code, Data Matrix, Aztec Code and Micro QR Code.

Using the form on this page, you can create two dimensional code images that trigger various actions on the scanner device. Don’t forget to install Qrafter or Qrafter Pro (why two versions?) to scan and generate QR Codes if you have an iPhone or iPad. So far, this page created 4,994,408 codes since I started counting in January, 2010.

Please be sure to read the Notes and FAQ sections below before requesting help in the comments if you encounter any problems with code generation (Especially for Micro QR Codes or backslash characters you may encounter on some codes!).

This page is very popular and because of that, it gets an incredible amount of comment spam. Sometimes legitimate comments can get caught as spam and I can miss them, so if your comment does not appear after some time, you can contact me from the email address on my contact page.

READ THIS FIRST:

I am getting many questions about scanning the codes created on this generator. Most of them are about some problem with the scanner not detecting the content of the code properly. This generator follows established standards strictly and most scanner apps except Qrafter and Qrafter Pro for iOS don’t follow those standards completely. So, if you somehow end up with an unexpected result after scanning a code, it is because that your scanner was developed lousily. If you are on iOS, use Qrafter or Qrafter Pro for guaranteed standards compatibility. For other platforms, please contact the developers of your scanner app to tell them to start following the standards that were established for a reason.

Select a Code Action:
Code Type: QR Code (recommended)
Data Matrix (only ASCII chars)
Aztec Code (only ASCII chars)
Micro QR Code (only ASCII chars)
Bookmark Title: *
Web Site URL: *
Phone Number: *
SMS Message:
Mail Recipient: *
Subject:
Body:
Escape Special Characters (like colon, semicolon or comma): Yes
No
IMPORTANT: Please check notes on escaping in Notes section.
Version: 2.1
3.0
vCard Type: Real Person
Company
First Name:
Middle Name:
Last Name:
Organization:
Title:
E-Mail Address:
Mobile Phone:
Video Call Phone:
Work Phone:
Work Fax:
Home Phone:
Work Address: Street:
City:
State:
ZIP Code:
Country:
Home Address: Street:
City:
State:
ZIP Code:
Country:
Address: Street:
City:
State:
ZIP Code:
Country:
Work Web Address:
Home Web Address:
Web Address:
Birthday:
Event Format: Fully Compliant to iCalendar Standard Compliant to ZXing Proposal
Event Summary: *
Event Description:
Full Day Event: Yes (Only uses start date and end date) No (Also uses start time and end time)
Start Date:
Start Time:
End Date:
End Time:
Text: *
NOTE: Google Maps will be used to select the coordinates, but the resulting url will be a Bing Maps URL.
Location Name:
 
Twitter User: *  
Prepend username before tweet
Twitter User: *
Text to Tweet: *
Search Type: Publisher Search Exact Package Name
Market Search: *
Package Name: *
Youtube Video ID: *  
Enter either only the YouTube video ID or full URL for the video.
iTunes App ID: *  
Enter either only the App ID or full URL for the app on iTunes.
Venue ID: *  
Enter either only the venue ID or full URL for the venue.
Facebook Status: *
BBM Pin: *
SSID: *
Password:
Network Type:
URL Shortening:
(will use full url in case of error)
Error Correction Level:
(only for QR Code)
Block Size in Pixels:
Margin Size in Blocks:
Output Type:
Foreground Color:     Transparent
Background Color:     Transparent
Qrafter Banner

Notes:

You can follow me or Qrafter on Twitter.

QR Code is far more widespread than Data Matrix, Aztec Code or Micro QR Code. Actually Micro QR Code is rarely used and is only given here as a technology preview. If you want to create a campaign for your products using a 2D Code, make sure that you are using QR Codes, not the other types.

Data Matrix and Aztec Code have significantly lower capacity (4096 alphanumeric characters for QR Code, 3067 for Aztec Code and 2335 for Data Matrix), so if you would like to encode a lot of text, select QR Code.

To create the best readable code for long URLs, use one of the URL shortening services so that the resulting code is as small as possible. I personally prefer bit.ly over the others.

Micro QR Code cannot hold more than 35 numeric and 21 uppercase alphanumeric characters, and it can hold even less characters when you use lowercase characters. When encoding a URL into a Micro QR Code, try using all uppercase characters for longer URLs. I don’t know of a scanner that supports Micro QR Code though.

If your input cannot be encoded, the generator will give a warning. In that case, lower the character count in your input and try again.

If your device cannot interpret the encoded 2D Code properly, it probably means your scanner program is written poorly or does not have the capability of decoding that particular code format; or your device does not accept that action, because all codes created by this script and the content within them are compliant to all necessary published standards (vCard standards, URL encoding schemes, NTT DoCoMo standards, etc.).

While we are talking on standards, let me open the topic up a little bit more. Sadly most scanners out there do not follow special character escaping standards. Characters like “:” or “;” are special characters in vCard, meCard or vEvent specifications, and they should be properly escaped for the input to be interpreted correctly. This generator follows these standards correctly, and so a URL field like “http://example.com” becomes “http\://example.com” after escaping. The problem is, some scanners do not know how to handle this escaped character and break altogether. If you encounter such problem, select No for Escape Special Characters in vCard, meCard or vEvent creation. But while you will be able to read those QR Codes in broken scanners, be aware that, your 2D Code will not be standards compliant and you may not be able to add a URL that includes a second colon (for example as a port number separator) or semicolon when you do that. If you are on iPhone or iPad, I strongly suggest that you ditch your broken scanner and download Qrafter or Qrafter Pro. They are fully compliant to said standards. This way, I hope that developers will be forced to create scanners that obey standards that were established for a reason.

Data Matrix, Aztec Code and Micro QR Code do not support characters other than ASCII because of their spec, so if your input has international characters, always use QR Code. Another caveat of Micro QR Code is that, it is not supported by most of the scanner programs out there. As for Kanji and Cyrillic characters, again, only QR Code should support them.

Always use dark colors for foreground color and light colors for background color. If there is not enough contrast between foreground and background colors, your device will most probably fail to decode the code. Another warning: The EPS version I had to use does not support transparency, so you should use another format if you are going to have transparent foreground or background in your codes.

Twitter Profile Image Overlay option overlays your Twitter profile image onto a code that includes your Twitter profile URL. Images created with this option will behave very oddly with vector image formats. You have been warned! 🙂

Currently you can do the following actions with 2D codes generated with this form:

  • You can browse to a website.
  • You can bookmark a website.
  • You can make a phone call.
  • You can send a short message.
  • You can send an e-mail.
  • You can create a vCard (v2.1 or v3.0) with coordinates to add a contact to your device.
  • You can create a meCard to add a contact to your device.
  • You can create a vCalendar event to add to your calendar.
  • You can create iTunes app and review URLs for iOS devices.
  • You can create market:// URLs for searching for publishers or packages on Market app for Android.
  • You can create Foursquare venue URLs.
  • You can create special youtube:// URLs for YouTube app on iOS.
  • You can fetch and encode the latest tweet of a Twitter user.
  • You can overlay a Twitter profile image over the code.
  • You can create a mobile URL to tweet on Twitter.
  • You can connect to a WIFI network on Android devices.
  • You can read plain or free formatted text on your device.

You can change the block size of the generated image to make it bigger or smaller. Also, you can change the margin size of the image to add more quiet zone if your decoder cannot decode it (Especially Data Matrix seems to need bigger margin sizes). Error correction level for QR Code (ignored for other code types) can be set to 4 different values and higher values may cause the image to be decoded slightly slower. The 4 values can be explained like this:

  • Low (L): Up to 7% of errors can be corrected.
  • Medium-Low (M): Up to 15% of errors can be corrected.
  • Medium-High (Q): Up to 25% of errors can be corrected.
  • High (H): Up to 30% of errors can be corrected.

You can choose PNG, PDF, SVG or EPS outputs. SVG will output a vector image XML file, and you can edit it in applications like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape.

Please be aware that while I make checks for illegal characters to protect my server, I do not check your input for a meaningful value.

The image generation is done using third party encoders. I have only written a handy PHP front end that formats your input and passes it to these encoders.

A note about printing from Roy, a fellow user of this generator: When codes are generated, they are created in RGB (my note: yes even if they are black and white, they are in RGB colorspace) and if they are used in printing, they should be converted to grayscale or CMYK so that, when printed, only the black plate is used. This ensures the highest edge resolution, particularly in smaller sizes.

QR Code Scanners:

The best scanner apps for iPhone and iPad are Qrafter and Qrafter Pro. They are available on the App Store. They are designed for both iPhone and iPad and Qrafter is free with advertisements, while Qrafter Pro is paid with no advertisements. They are able to understand all actions on this generator (and more) and are the most advanced scanners for QR Codes on iPhone and iPad.

For Android, the best option seems to be the Barcode Scanner app from ZXing.

For Nokia Maemo/Meego, you can use Mbarcode according to Ryks, another commenter.

For other devices, you may find one, suitable for your device from Kaywa or QuickMark.

QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED in the United States and other countries.

Qrafter is a registered trademark of Kerem Erkan in the United States, European Union and other countries.

FAQ:

Here is an updating list of frequently asked questions.

Q: Can I change the content of a code I created if I find a mistake?
A: The codes generated on this generator are standalone, which means they have no connection to this generator after being generated. This also means they include the content directly inside them, and if the content needs to change, the generated code image will change. Please test your code images with as many devices and scanner apps as possible to avoid any problems after printing the codes.

Q: Why do I get unwanted characters like a backslash (\) or semicolon (;) in the result when I scan a QR Code?
A: You are using a QR Code reader that cannot parse the contents of QR Codes correctly. Many readers are especially weak at parsing vCards. Use a proper app from the QR Code Scanners list on this page.

Q: Do you harvest the information I enter into this form?
A: No, I don’t use the information you enter to this form in any means. After you create your 2D Code, the information is removed from my server.

Q: Can I track the scan information for the 2D Codes I create on this generator?
A: You can’t track the 2D Codes you create on this generator unless you create your own trackable URL (for example a bit.ly URL) and then enter that URL to generate a QR Code for it on this page.

Q: Do the 2D codes that were created on this generator have an expiration date?
A: No, all codes generated on this generator can be used as long as you want.

Q: Can I use the codes I create on this generator commercially? Do I need to pay any fees?
A: You can use the codes created on this generator both commercially and personally. There are no fees to pay. The only favor I ask back is the promotion of Qrafter or Qrafter Pro on your site as your recommended reader app for iOS devices. But it is only a request, you are not obliged to do that. 🙂

Q: What is the minimum size for a QR Code so that it can be scanned with all devices?
A: The answer to this question cannot be given with exact proportions. New devices with autofocus cameras can scan very small QR Codes, but old devices that don’t have autofocus cameras will have problems with scanning codes smaller than one or two inches. Also it depends on the size of the information that you put into the QR Code. You need to test your QR Code with many devices, old and new to find the best compromise.

Q: Can I overlay an image on top of the QR Code like the one in “Twitter Profile Image Overlay” action of this generator?
A: Yes you can. Create a QR Code with highest error correction and select a vector output. This way, using your preferred image editor, you can overlay an image that’s up to 30% of the QR Code. Be careful not to overlay the image on top of the 3 alignment squares though.

1,121 thoughts on “QR Code and 2D Code Generator”

  2. Frank Baylor

    Mr. Kerem,,

    I will try to keep this short. I’ve scoured and searched, all over the internet for someone to create a QR generator with thoughtfulness. Meaning just don’t build a generic generator, but create a tool that the people need and want. And you have accomplished that. CONGRADS!
    I’m in the QR world also promoting here in the US, which is slowly catching on. You were recommended by
    one of the Qoder members – QRazystuff
    We will strongly refer your QR Code generator, which has been listed on the website.
    Thank you, there is hope!!!

    Reply
  4. DooD

    Hey Kerem,
    First of all, thanks for this great generator…
    I’ve one question because i’m trying to create a little generator like yours. How can you use colors to create the code ?
    I just have the code in black and white.
    Thanks and sorry for my english, i’m french.
    DooD

    Reply
  6. Tavo

    Hi Karem, I’ve seen some 2D codes embedded into a picture.
    How may I edit a code to include such images? Is there an editor that allows this feature?

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Hi Tavo,

      I could not understand what you mean by embedded. Do you want something like steganography? If that’s the case, I don’t know any such editors.

      Reply
  7. John

    Tried a couple others with no better results. ScanLife says it’s an invalid address. Do I need to enter more than my e-mail address into your generator?

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Please read the Notes section carefully, this is already covered there. And please do not use bogus mail addresses or names if you don’t want your comments to be marked as spam.

      Reply
  11. Cris

    Good job! Currently working on analysis for QR codes. We found out that the scanlife scanner does not support uppercase, It translates all url’s using uppercase into lowercase, so some redirects don’t work and an error is presented. Strangely it does not support case sensitivity.
    (It is also that uppercase url’s makes the QR code smaller by 47%. ) Other scanner apps do the job just fine, but we noticed that the i-nigma reader goes crazy when holding your phone vertical (not landscape) and it does a poor job in scanning QR codes high value anyway.
    What is your experience in using Uppercase url’s and the quality for most scan apps?

    Reply
  12. Mark

    Kerem, you really are the man. Awesome work!

    Question to all, does anyone have a work around for QR SMS messages when read in the iPhone? Always looses the body of the message for me (3G model). Is anyone else finding this? Have tried a few generators too.

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Thanks Mark,

      The answer to your question: Most probably Apple does not let you fill in the body of the message. Or the reader programs cannot interpret the code correctly. I think the problem is the first one, but I am looking into writing my own reader for iPhone, so I hope to find a solution for this.

      Cheers.

      Reply
      1. Frank

        Had the same issue, but it applies to some readers.

        Just installed QuickMark for iPhone4 and it did do the trick… However it is not free…

        Reply
  13. John

    Great generator and helpful tips. Can I use these generators for commercial purposes without having to pay liscensing fees, etc.?

    Reply
  14. Alex

    Thanks for your help!
    Not sure if you are working on this, but It would be good if you allowed users to also embed an image in the QR Codes?
    Keep up the good work!
    Alex

    Reply
      1. Alex

        Thanks Kerem, Sorry, I didn’t make my comment clear. What I meant is to have a QR code that does not include the image inside the code, a bit like this one for Louis Vuitton:

        http://www.highsnobiety.com/news/2009/04/18/louis-vuitton-x-takashi-murakami-designer-qr-codes/

        Some other QR Code generators allow you to add an image to the QR code although that image is not encoded itself.

        For example you can see a code at the bottom of this site: http://www.searchmarketing.salford.ac.uk/

        Best wishes

        Alex

        Reply
        1. Kerem

          Ah, I understand it now, Yeah, I’ll check to see if there is an elegant way to do this automatically and add it to the generator in the future. The Louis Vuitton one is nearly impossible to do automatically, but the second one can be done much easily.

          Reply
  17. Paul Strack

    Kerem,

    Again, thank you for your knowledge and this site. It remains the most useful/helpful site on QR codes.

    A question came up recently about the ability to include a photo on a vcard, and generating a QR Code for that format.

    Is that possible, or would the inclusion of a graphic make a QR code so dense that it would render it unreadable?

    thank you for your help.

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Hi Paul,

      Thank you for your kind words :). As you know, QR Codes can hold a maximum of 4096 alphanumeric characters. The photos in vCards are converted to Base64 encoding and so, take up more space than their original size. So, with additional contact information, you will have something like 3 KB for the photo in Base64, which will be nearly 2 KB in original form. I think a 2 KB photo will be too small and will not be a feasible solution.

      But another approach can be this: You can create a vCard including the photo and put it to a server, then, point the QR Code to the vCard URL. This will need the other party to be connected to the internet, but, at this time, most mobile devices already are.

      Reply
  19. g

    Thanks Kerem,
    Do you know when your service will be available? We’re planning our first campaign for October…
    Cheers.

    Reply
  20. g

    Hi Kerem – big thanks for your generator, it’s by far the most powerful and easy to use I’ve found.

    Have you made, or could you recommend something to track codes with? I’d love to track how many people have scanned my codes, etc. I’ve tried a few QR campaign management options, but none seem to cover the range of reader actions you do.

    Thanks,
    g

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Hi,

      I am working on a tracking service, which, when finished will be able to track most QR Code actions on my site in the future. But for now, probably there are no tracking services that can suit your needs.

      Cheers.

      Reply

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