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 4,994,789 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”

  1. marcus

    Hi Kerem, first of all thank you very much for sharing this fantastic app with us. It is truly a great tool. I read above that you grant access to your engine from 3rd party sites so that we can have this form on our site. I would really like to make use of this offer. Would you be so kind and contact me so we can discuss the details of this offer?
    Thanks a lot in advance,
    macs

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Hi Marcus,

      I am completely focused on the iPhone QR Code reader I have been writing for the time being, but when that is finished, I hope to get an API ready for everyone. Until that time, I can’t give access yet.

      Reply
  3. Henri

    When i make a mecard or v-card and scan it with my android the address is preceded and followed by a few commas. (v-card version and use of escape codes do not make a difference)
    Further the address is placed in the first address field while my phone has 4 separate fields for street, place, zip…

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      The commas are not parsed because Android reader deliberately does not follow the Address standard of meCard. We have discussed it on ZXing mail list and probably it will not change in the near future unless the users file a bug for the reader.

      I am putting everything in the street field for the time being, but in the future I will separate the zip, country etc. fields to correctly fill the address, but I don’t think that Android reader will be able to use that data correctly unless they start to follow meCard specs.

      Reply
  4. Nicolas

    When you try to make color combinations a few times (6-7 times) it stops working, and only returns the default black foreground on white background. For example, trying now:
    #CC6600 over #FFFFFF does not bring the up the colors-just the default color combination.

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      It seems to be a browser problem on your side. I have tried more than 20 times on Firefox for Mac here, and could not replicate your problem.

      Reply
  5. Nicolas

    Hi Kerem,

    Thank you for your utility. It seems though that it is not possible to use the colors and paint the foreground and background. Why is that do you think?

    Reply
  6. Claus

    Hi Kerem
    And thanx for a fantastic tool.
    I have tried to make a vcard – and read it with my android phone (zxing).
    And that can’t be done – look for yourself:
    http://www.horsodan.dk/eks.html
    The above link takes you to the codes in 3 diff. sizes.
    None of them can be read – the have to be bigger.
    The information provided is the minimum – our name, address, phonenr., web address, mail address, google map info.
    and nothing else.
    Should’nt it be possible to read such a simpel ecard with this size ?
    NB. tried to delete the Google map info – but dont know how to do that.
    Regards, Claus

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Hi Claus,

      The images are too small to be readable by most devices. My iPhone 3G and the reader program I am writing at the moment cannot read your images correctly. But when I save the image to my computer and open it manually, it gets bigger, and I can read the vCard easily without any problems. The best way to present the user a bigger QR Code is to popup a bigger one when someone clicks on the thumbnail. Try clicking on the QR Codes to the right of my site to see what I mean.

      Reply
  7. Mark

    Oftentimes people already have the actual coordinates and don’t need the mapping function; it actually slows you down. If you put latitude and longitude fields as options that would be a real benefit.

    Reply
  9. Marketing Local Business Online

    Hi, Kerem, et al! Yes, I read your notes. Again, I’m no
    expert on QR; but, I thought that I’d read somewhere that the 3
    large corner squares are reference points, and the rest is decoded
    from the pattern between those reference squares. Theoretically, it
    seems the foreground and background colors should be irrelevant,,
    provided that there is enough contrast for the reader to
    distinguish between them. What am I missing? If ever I can be of
    service to you; contact me at once. I wish for you a truly
    extraordinary day … – Best Regards, Mike Schleif 612-235-6060
    http://mdsresource.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/schleif
    http://facebook.com/MDSResource
    http://twitter.com/mikeschleif

    Reply
  10. Marketing Local Business Online

    Hi, Kerem, et al!

    I don’t know alot about QR structure; but, I’ve seen various colors, and your generator facilitates transparent background or foreground. This leads me to believe that “negatives” should resolve identically.

    Is it my android app, or do the two QR codes here:

    http://mdsresource.net/tmP/QR/

    differing only as negatives of each other, also differ in underlying message?

    Please, advise.

    If ever I can be of service to you; contact me at once.

    I wish for you a truly extraordinary day …

    —
    Best Regards,

    Mike Schleif
    612-235-6060
    http://mdsresource.net
    http://www.linkedin.com/in/schleif
    http://facebook.com/MDSResource
    http://twitter.com/mikeschleif

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Hi Mike,

      As you can see in the Notes section, foreground should always be from dark colors and background should be from light colors. Most readers will not be able to read the code if it is the opposite.

      I am giving the color option to slightly change the colors, not to change them altogether. For example to make the foreground dark blue or to make the background light yellow will not affect reading performance. Changing them too much will make the code unreadable.

      Same for transparency, if you set the background to transparent and overlay the code on a light colored background, you’ll still be able to read the code. So, with this information, you can be sure that the first code on your link is invalid, while the second can be read.

      Reply
  11. Name (required)

    Hi I hope some one will be able to answer a question in to the commercial use of QR codes. I have heard there is a fee payable to be able to use these commercially? Can any one confirm this?

    Reply
  12. Steven Weathers

    Have you tried BeeTag Reader?

    At work we found that BeeTag is existent on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and lots more. This has helped us to recommend new QR code users an application that works on all phones, and from our testing allows for a great majority of the features.

    -By the way, great job on your generator!

    Reply
  13. MBC

    sorry for bad english..
    when i make a v.card (0qr code) and read it with a barcode reader in androide (HTC sense), way is it that i don’t get all the info in to the contact card?
    i can se that it reads all the info, but it’s not typing it into the contact…. way?

    Reply
  14. Jonathan Dusza

    wow, really cool and i also agree … the best generator i’ve seen to date. would you be able to give the sources you used to build this so others could create their own version of this?

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Thanks Jonathan, I am not planning to distribute the source code for the time being, but I will make the generator available for use via an API in the future.

      Reply
  15. Donna

    Thanks for the tool! Great job in adding all the options. We were trying to use it to create a vcard and can’t seem to get it to give us the email address & title no matter what we do.

    We read it on an iPhone with the AT&T reader and the i-nigma reader. Both give us the contact details perfectly fine except for the email address and title.
    The values included were:
    First and Last Name, email, work phone, org name, title, web address

    We tried 2.1/3.0 and QR vs Data Matrix and there is no difference with any settings, the results are the same.

    Any guidance would be appreciated.

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Well, those readers are not following vCard standards (and any other standard that was established for a reason), that’s the problem. I am an iPhone user myself and was really tired of those lousy readers, so I decided to write my own reader for iPhone. I just finished writing it and it has the best parsing mechanism for all options. It can read full vCard, meCard, vEvent, tweet, map etc. QR Codes, and it is way better than every reader for every smartphone on the market. Hopefully it will be on the App Store in a few weeks, and it will be free, just to show the developers what they should be doing from the beginning. So stay tuned. 🙂

      Reply
  16. Henry Ayoola

    I’m slightly puzzled by your note that

    Micro QR Code cannot hold more than 35 numeric and 21 alphanumeric characters, and it can hold even less characters when you add non-alphanumeric characters like “/” to your input.

    My reading of the zint source code, and other sources, indicates that the “alphanumeric” type supported for QR and Micro QR includes 0-9, A-Z, space, $%*+-./:

    So it seems that URLs should fit in alphanumeric as long as they don’t use queries, since ? is not supported.

    However, link shortener URLs would still require the binary type because they are case-sensitive.

    Have I misunderstood something?

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      You are right Henry,

      I stand corrected. You can include a URL in a Micro QR Code with 21 characters if using only uppercase alphabetic characters, slash and colon.

      Reply
  18. Steve Harrison

    Hey Kerem,
    I have communicated with you a couple of times regarding this issue already (sorry). I have an online Web-to-Print store with Printable as our store vendor. It only accepts TIFF and JPEGs as images that can be uploaded, but even then, it is picky about compression methods, so when you changed your TIFF compression method from ZIP to LZW, I thought I was in the clear. Is there any possibility that you can provide that previous incarnation of your TIFF QR Code (before you added transparency options and grayscale RGB) version as an option from your generator. PLEASE 😉

    Reply
    1. Kerem

      Hi Steve,

      I have made some quick fixes. Please let me know if it works. BTW, if this works, I want my beer for my ongoing customizations, Paypal button is up there! 😉

      Reply
  20. Manouche

    hi Kerem,

    First Thanks a lot for your qrcode generator (it the best i found).
    Can I buy or download your API for integrate in a commercial qrcode management.

    Regards 😉

    Reply
      1. Q

        What do you mean “give commercial access to the generator on my server.”

        Do you mean via this webpage or do you have a service / access to the engine direct on your server.

        Thanks – ~Q~

        Reply

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