Generate QR Code
QR Code Generator
Here’s a few basics to get you started.
You can generate free QR codes on this website. A QR code is a two dimensional barcode that stores information in black and white dots (called data pixels or “QR code modules”). Besides the black and white version, you can also create a colored QR code. For these codes to work without problems, make sure the contrast is sufficient and the result is not a negative (in terms of color). To make your QR code even better, you can also get a QR code with logo.
Able to store up to 7089 digits or 4296 characters, including punctuation marks and special characters, the Code can equally encode words and phrases such as internet addresses. One thing to always keep in mind, especially when it comes to designing the Static QR Codes aesthetic is that the more data is added, the more the size increases and its structure becomes more complex.
Even when damaged, the QR Code’s structure data keys include duplications. It is thanks to these redundancies that allow up to 30% of the Code structure to take damage without affecting its readability on scanners.
Know more about QR CodifierThe QR Code: A Brief History
In 1994, DENSO WAVE, a subsidiary manufacturing company, required a better, faster, stronger technology to the Barcode to process higher amounts of characters and to aid them in tracking vehicles and parts. Masahiro Hara with a team of two, undertook the task of developing what we now know and recognize as the QR Code.
Some of the most challenging problems for Hara and his team were figuring out a way to make 2D codes read as fast as possible, while preventing false recognition once the shape of the position detection pattern was added. It needed to be unique, which meant the development team spent the better part of a year doing a survey of the white to black areas’ ratio after reducing them to patterns on printed material. The results? They identified the ideal ratio as 1:1:3:1:1.
By identifying this number, they were able to determine the black and white areas in the position detection pattern which enabled the Code to be detected regardless of the scanning angle. In short, this unique ratio simply meant you could scan it from up, down, left or right.
Though the initially targeted field for QR Code use was the manufacturing industry, with the rise of smartphone use and the fact that it remained without a patent meant it became an open-source technology, available to anyone and everyone.
You can now find QR Codes stylishly delivering great amounts of information and redefining the print to digital marketing scene.
The anatomy of a QR Code
It’s the 90s and you have just ejected your video cassette, leaving the square TV screen in a state of static white noise. Visually, that is what comes to mind when some people look at the QR Code. A complex matrix of black and white squares. Though looking like a pixelated image, each one of those squares is actually a marker serving a greater function in the information-sharing capabilities of the Code.
Positioning detection markers
Located at three corners of each code, it allows a scanner to accurately recognize the Code and read it at high speed, while indicating the direction in which the Code is printed. They essentially help quickly identify the presence of a QR Code in an image and it's orientation.
Alignment markings
Smaller than the position detection markers, they help straighten out QR Codes drawn on a curved surface. And, the more information a Code stores, the larger it is and the more alignment patterns it requires.
Timing pattern
Alternating black/white modules on the QR Code with the idea of accurately helping configure the data grid. Using these lines, the scanner determines how large the data matrix is.
Version information
With currently 40 different QR Code versions, these markers specify the one that is being used. The most common ones are versions 1 to 7.
Format information
The format patterns contain information about the error tolerance and the data mask pattern and make it easier to scan the Code.
Data and error correction keys
The error correction mechanism inherent in the QR Code structure is where all your data is contained, also sharing the space with the error correction blocks that allow up to 30% of the Code to be damaged.
Quiet zone
This is similar to the importance of white space in design, that is it offers structure and improves comprehension. For whom or what you may ask? For the scanning program. In order to distinguish the QR Code from its surroundings, the quiet zone is vital.
