QR code for packaging, labels and product inserts

How to make a QR code for packaging

1. Create the destination page on your own site, for example example.com/p/kettle, and put the manual, registration, ingredients or reorder button on it. Keep the path short.
2. Paste the address into Product page link and click Test link. A short address gives a 25 × 25 module code that prints reliably at small label sizes.
3. Leave Quiet zone on so the white margin is part of the file; the label artwork must not touch it.
4. Wait for the badge to read Verified, then choose Download SVG for the label artwork, or use the bulk generator for a code per product.
5. Order a printed proof, scan it on the actual material and curve, and only then approve the print run.

QR code for packaging details

A packaging code carries one link and lives longer than most prints: a box in a cupboard, a bottle in a bathroom, a manual scanned three years after purchase.

Link to a page you control

Ingredients change, manuals are revised, registration forms move. The code cannot change after printing, but the page behind it can. Point the code at example.com/p/kettle on your own domain and update that page whenever you like; the printed code never needs reprinting. This is the honest version of what dynamic code services sell, as the static vs dynamic explainer shows.

What to put behind the code

• Instructions or a manual.
• Product registration or warranty activation.
• Full ingredients, allergens and nutrition where the label is too small.
• A reorder page with the product pre-selected.

Size, material and curves

A short link gives a 25 × 25 module code. At 1.5 cm wide each module is 0.6 mm, which label presses reproduce, but ask for 2 cm if the press is older or the material textured. Matte papers and white polypropylene scan well; foil, metallic and clear labels do not unless the code sits on a solid white patch. On a curved surface, place the code where it wraps least, on the flat end or along the axis of a bottle, and keep it small relative to the diameter: a 2 cm code on a 6 cm bottle is fine, a 4 cm code is not.

Batches

For a code per product, the bulk QR code generator takes a CSV with a link per row and returns a ZIP of SVGs named by SKU.

Common mistakes

• Artwork or a border overlapping the quiet zone.
• A coloured code on a coloured label; keep it dark on a white patch.

This code never expires

The link is printed into every unit you ship, so the code keeps working for the life of the product, provided the page stays at that address. This is a static QR code: the data is written into the pattern, so scanning it needs no server, no account and no subscription. There is nothing to renew and no redirect that can be switched off, which is why a code made here keeps working for as long as the printed copy exists. The trade-off is honest: a static code cannot be edited after printing and does not count scans. If you need either, encode a link to a page you control. Read how static and dynamic codes differ, and if a code you already have has stopped working, see why QR codes expire.

Styling, formats and print size

Every code can be styled in the Style panel: six dot shapes, corner shapes, solid or gradient colours, a transparent background, a quiet zone of 0–8 modules, and your own logo up to 30 percent of the width. A contrast checker warns below 3:1 and blocks downloads below 1.5:1, and after each change the preview is decoded again so the badge tells you whether the styled code still scans.

Print size: as a rule of thumb the code should be at least one tenth of the scanning distance wide, with the quiet zone included.

On a label scanned in the hand, print the code at least 1.5–2 cm wide with the quiet zone; a longer address or a curved surface needs 2.5 cm or more.

The QR code size guide has a calculator for module size, DPI and distance.

Frequently asked questions