Where the code sits on the page, the few words beside it, how it holds up from arm’s length to across a street, and which QR type the sheet calls for. Then one code per placement, so you can see which flyer or poster gets scanned.
Illustrations of printed pieces with fictional events and businesses. Every code on this page opens this page; yours would open your event, offer or website.
Read your headline and ask what you want someone to do next. That answer picks the QR type.
“Sat 15 May, 10–5, Riverside Wharf”
Event QR code: A page with the start and end time, the location with a map link, and add-to-calendar buttons.
“20% off dinner, Sunday to Thursday”
Coupon QR code: The offer and its discount code, with a valid-until date. After that date the page shows the offer as expired. Your till or checkout applies the code; QR Rapid doesn’t validate or redeem it.
“Open evenings every Thursday”
URL QR code: A page on your website, or a sign-up form you already use.
“Line-up, tickets, volunteering”
List of links QR code: A mobile page with a button for each link.
Print a dynamic code. Every type except Wi-Fi can be dynamic, so if the date moves or the offer changes after the run, you edit the destination and the sheets already up still work. A static code is fixed to what you typed and isn’t tracked. A dynamic code works while it’s active in your QR Rapid account; if it’s deactivated (for example when a plan ends), scans show an inactive-code page until you reactivate it.
Planning the whole event? QR codes for events has more ways to use codes around one.
A flyer is read in the hand; a platform poster is read from across the tracks. The same code design won’t suit both.
At arm’s length
A step or two back
Across a platform or street
There’s no single safe size. Distance, light, the print method and how much the code holds all change it. Print a full-size proof, put it where the sheet will hang, and scan it with a couple of different phones from where people will actually stand.
The call to action
People scan when they know what they’ll get. Name it in a few words, right beside the code, at a size readable from where they’ll scan. QR Rapid frames carry up to 30 characters of text around the code, so every example here is 30 or fewer.
Scan for the full line-up
The thing that stops people: what’s on, or what’s offered. The code isn’t the headline.
Put the code beside the date or the offer it adds to, not alone in a corner.
Directly next to the code, in the same reading line as the offer.
Keep text, borders and artwork out of a margin around the code.
Keep it inside the safe area and off any crease, so it isn’t cut or bent.
A dark code on a plain light patch. A busy photo or a pale code on a bright colour can stop it scanning.
In the generator you can change dot and corner styles and colours, add a preset or uploaded logo, and pick one of 17 frames with your call to action. Logos and styled dots are fine when contrast stays strong. Download SVG for the print file; PNG, JPEG and PDF are there too. Working with a designer? QR codes for designers covers styling and artwork files.
If the noticeboard and the station poster share a code, their scans arrive together. Give each placement its own dynamic code. Your plan sets how many dynamic codes you can create.
Create one dynamic code for the campaign.
Duplicate it once for each place it will be printed.
Rename each copy after where it’s printed, and move them into one folder.
In Statistics, filter by folder for the campaign, or by one code for one placement.
Statistics shows each code’s scans over time by hour, day or week, devices and operating systems, countries and cities, and estimated unique visitors. It counts scans, not people.
Spring market print
What happens after the scan is your analytics’ job. QR Rapid has no built-in UTM builder and no attribution beyond the scan. If you use UTM tags, paste an address that already has them as the URL destination; your web analytics reads them.
https://example.com/market?utm_source=library-noticeboard&utm_medium=poster&utm_campaign=spring-market
Next to the message it completes, usually beside the offer or the date rather than alone in a corner. Leave clear space around it, keep it away from folds and trim edges, and put a short line beside it saying what the scan opens.
It depends on how far away people stand, how much the code holds, the print method and the light, so there’s no single safe number. Print a proof at full size, put it where the poster will hang and scan it with a couple of different phones from where people will actually stand.
What happens after the scan, in a few words: “Scan for the full line-up”, “Scan for 20% off”, “Scan to book a tour”. QR Rapid frames can carry up to 30 characters of text around the code.
Yes, if each placement has its own dynamic code. Duplicate one code per placement, name each after where it’s printed, and compare them in Statistics. Your plan sets how many dynamic codes you can create. QR Rapid counts scans of each code; what people do on your website afterwards is reported by your own web analytics.
Yes. Paste the full address with its utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign tags as the URL destination. QR Rapid doesn’t build the tags for you; your web analytics reads them.
Event, when the flyer advertises a date: it opens a page with the time, location, a map link and add-to-calendar buttons. Coupon suits an offer with a valid-until date, and URL suits details that already live on your website.
Each button opens the generator with that type selected. Design the code in the generator, then create your account to download it.
Details or a sign-up form on your website.
Create a URL QR codeA date, a place and add-to-calendar buttons.
Create an event QR codeAn offer with a valid-until date.
Create a coupon QR codeEvery account starts with a 7-day free trial, no credit card required.