QR Codes
What Is a QR Code? How QR Codes Work
What a QR code is, where it came from, and how a phone turns the squares back into a link or text: finder patterns, versions, masking and error correction.
· 6 min read
QR Code & Barcode Guides
Plain-English explanations of how QR codes and barcodes work, and practical guides to creating, printing and scanning them.
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How-To Guides
How to Create a QR Code (That Actually Scans)
A step-by-step guide to making a QR code that scans: choosing the content, keeping it readable, picking the file format and size, and testing before print.
· 4 min read
Barcodes
Barcode Check Digits Explained, With Worked Examples
How the GS1 mod 10 check digit for EAN, UPC and ITF-14 is calculated step by step, how Code 39, Code 128 and ISBN-10 differ, and what check digits catch.
· 5 min read
QR Codes
QR Codes
What Is a QR Code? How QR Codes Work
What a QR code is, where it came from, and how a phone turns the squares back into a link or text: finder patterns, versions, masking and error correction.
· 6 min read
QR Codes
What Information Can a QR Code Contain?
What a QR code can hold, from links and WiFi logins to contacts, messages, locations and events, the formats phones recognise, and the size limits.
· 4 min read
How-To Guides
How-To Guides
How to Create a QR Code (That Actually Scans)
A step-by-step guide to making a QR code that scans: choosing the content, keeping it readable, picking the file format and size, and testing before print.
· 4 min read
How-To Guides
How to Create a WiFi QR Code (and Fix One That Won't Connect)
Make a QR code that lets guests join your WiFi, share it safely with a guest network, and fix the common reasons a WiFi QR code scans but doesn't connect.
· 4 min read
Technical Guides
Technical Guides
QR Code Error Correction Explained: L, M, Q and H
What QR error correction levels L, M, Q and H mean, how Reed-Solomon lets damaged codes scan, how the level changes size, and which to choose.
· 4 min read
Technical Guides
QR Code Size and Quiet Zone: How Big Should a QR Code Be?
How big to print a QR code for a scanning distance, why the quiet zone matters, how data length affects module size, and how to export sharp print files.
· 4 min read
Technical Guides
Static vs Dynamic QR Codes: What's the Difference?
How static and dynamic QR codes differ, what dynamic QR services do, the risks of relying on them, and how to get editable links with your own website.
· 3 min read
Technical Guides
QR Code Colours, Contrast and Logos: Designing Codes That Scan
How to use brand colours, gradients, rounded styles and logos on a QR code without breaking it: contrast, inverted colours, logo size, error correction and testing.
· 4 min read
Scanning
Scanning
How to Scan a QR Code on iPhone, Android or a Computer
How to scan a QR code on iPhone, Android or a computer, read one from a screenshot, fix codes that won't scan, and check a link is safe.
· 4 min read
Barcodes
Barcodes
What Is a Barcode and How Does It Work?
How barcodes store data in bars and spaces, how laser, linear and camera scanners read them, what quiet zones and check digits do, and how formats differ.
· 4 min read
Barcodes
QR Code vs Barcode: Which Should You Use?
How QR codes and traditional barcodes differ in capacity, error correction and scanning, and which to use for products, shipping, inventory and marketing.
· 3 min read
Barcodes
Barcode Check Digits Explained, With Worked Examples
How the GS1 mod 10 check digit for EAN, UPC and ITF-14 is calculated step by step, how Code 39, Code 128 and ISBN-10 differ, and what check digits catch.
· 5 min read
Barcodes
EAN-13 vs UPC-A: What's the Difference?
How EAN-13 and UPC-A relate, why a UPC-A is an EAN-13 starting with 0, where each is used, how to convert them, and which to put on your product.
· 3 min read
Barcodes
What Is Code 128? Character Sets, Check Characters and GS1-128
How Code 128 works: character sets A, B and C, why numbers compress to half the width, the mod 103 check character, and GS1-128 Application Identifiers.
· 4 min read
Barcodes
What Is ITF-14? GTIN-14 Barcodes for Cartons Explained
What ITF-14 barcodes are, how a GTIN-14 is built with an indicator digit, where ITF-14 fits in the packaging hierarchy, and how to print it on cartons.
· 4 min read