QR Codes on Business Cards
A QR code turns a card into a contact that saves itself. The two ways to do it, how small the code can safely go, and the print mistakes that ruin it.
On this page
The short answer
Put the code on the back of the card, at least 18 mm square, dark on light, with the quiet zone respected. Encode either a vCard (the phone saves your details directly, no internet needed) or a link to a contact page you control. Both work; they fail in different ways, so pick deliberately.
vCard or link?
| vCard code | Link code | |
|---|---|---|
| Works with no signal | Yes — the details are inside the code | No — the phone must load the page |
| Code density | High — several hundred characters | Low — one short URL |
| Details change later | Printed cards are out of date | Update the page; old cards keep working |
| Needs hosting | No | Yes — a page on your own domain |
A useful middle path: encode a link to a page that offers a downloadable vCard. The code stays sparse and scannable at card size, and you can change jobs without reprinting.
How small can the code go?
A card is read at arm's length — call it 20 cm — and a phone reads a code from roughly ten times its width, so the geometry allows 20 mm comfortably. The real constraint is density: a full vCard with name, organisation, two numbers, email and address produces a fine-grained code that struggles below 25 mm. Trim the vCard to the fields people actually save, or switch to a link. The size calculator does this arithmetic with your real content.
Placement and print
- Back of the card, not squeezed beside the logo. The code needs its four-module quiet zone on every side; a hairline border touching the code is the classic card mistake.
- Skip the special finishes for the code area. Foil, embossing, spot gloss and soft-touch lamination all scatter or distort light. Matte stock scans best.
- Dark modules on a light panel. On a dark card design, reverse the panel, not the code: print a light rectangle and put a normal dark code on it.
- Export SVG for the printer. Card artwork is vector; a rasterised code scaled down to 20 mm can blur. Every generator here downloads true-vector SVG.
Before you order 500 of them
Run Verify scan in the generator, print one proof at final size on similar stock, and scan it with more than one phone — including an older one. The testing routine takes five minutes and is considerably cheaper than a reprint.
Sources
Module structure and quiet-zone requirements are defined in ISO/IEC 18004, the QR Code specification. The vCard format is specified by the IETF in RFC 6350.