Guide · 8 min read · Updated 15 August 2026
QR code best practices: error correction, sizing, and print contrast
Avoid unreadable QR codes on business cards, menus, and flyers by mastering quiet zones, error recovery levels, and vector scaling.
Quick Response (QR) codes link printed material to a web page. But a badly set up QR code on a restaurant table card, a poster or product packaging often fails to scan in real conditions: dim light, glare, or a scuffed surface. The QR code generator shows you the settings below instead of hiding them.
The 4 Levels of Reed-Solomon Error Correction
A QR code carries extra, redundant data. If some modules are damaged or covered, the scanner can use that data to rebuild them. DENSO WAVE, the company that invented the QR code, lists four error correction levels:
- Level L (Low ~7% recovery): The least redundancy. Best for long URLs shown on clean digital screens.
- Level M (Medium ~15% recovery): The usual choice for flyers, business cards and packaging.
- Level Q (Quartile ~25% recovery): Recommended for outdoor signs that face rain, weather and wear from the street.
- Level H (High ~30% recovery): Use this when you put a logo or icon in the middle of the code, so it still scans.
Printing Best Practices Checklist
- Keep the 4-module "quiet zone": Always leave a blank white border at least 4 modules wide on every side. Phone cameras need it to find the edges of the code. DENSO WAVE's guide to QR code size makes this four-module margin a requirement.
- Minimum size rule: The printed code should be at least
Scan Distance ÷ 10. For a poster scanned from 3 feet away, the QR code must be at least 3.6 inches wide. - Export as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics): PNG images pixelate when you blow them up for a banner or billboard. For commercial print runs, always export a vector SVG.
Printing a batch of codes (table cards, name badges, asset labels) is a different job from making one. The bulk QR code generator takes a spreadsheet of destinations in one go.