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LINQT / FREE TOOLS / PRINT CHECKER
FREE TOOL · NO ACCOUNT

Will your QR code
actually scan?

Four things break printed QR codes: printing them too small for the viewing distance, low contrast, no quiet zone, and cramming in too much data. Check yours before it goes to print.

01Too small for how far away people stand when they scan it.
02Low contrast between the code and its background.
03No quiet zone — the blank margin cameras need to lock on.
04Too much data packed into the code, making each module tiny.

Common print sizes

22 MM

Business card

Corner of a card, read up close.

45 MM

Table tent

Café or restaurant table, arm's length.

90 MM

Window decal

Storefront window, from the footpath.

150 MM

A2 poster

Wall or noticeboard, across a room.

PREFLIGHT

Preflight, in plain English.

Six things worth checking before a printed QR code goes out the door.

01

Export as vector, not PNG

SVG or PDF scales to any print size without going blurry.

02

Keep the code darker than its background

Light-on-dark can work, but needs a higher contrast ratio to be safe.

03

Leave the quiet zone alone

Don't crop or cover the blank margin — cameras use it to find the code.

04

Use a higher error-correction level

Especially if a logo sits in the middle — it needs the redundancy.

05

Matte beats gloss

Glossy laminate creates glare that confuses some camera autofocus.

06

Test on the worst phone you can find

An older, cheaper camera in bad light is the real bar to clear.

The one failure this tool cannot fix.

A code that scans perfectly but lands on a page you have since moved. That's what the rest of Linqt is for.