QR code for resume, CV and portfolio links

How to make a QR code for a resume

1. Host the resume first: upload the PDF to your website, Google Drive or Dropbox and copy the share link, or use your portfolio address or LinkedIn profile link.
2. Paste it into Resume or portfolio link and click Test link to confirm it opens without a login. Shorter links make a smaller code.
3. Keep the style plain: dark modules, white background, no logo. The code will be printed at 2 cm on office paper.
4. Wait for the badge to read Verified, then choose Download PNG at Size 512 px, or Download SVG if you lay the resume out in a design tool.
5. Place it in the header next to your contact details, or in the footer, and print the same link as text beside it.

QR code for resume details

A resume code is a link code that must survive small print and a recruiter’s phone. It contains one address, and that address does the work: a hosted PDF, a portfolio page, a project repository, a video introduction, a LinkedIn profile.

Host the resume, do not encode it

The text of a one-page resume is about 3,000 characters, more than a code can hold, and at any practical size it could not be scanned. Even a 500-character summary gives a 57 × 57 module code that fails at 2 cm. Host the document and encode its address: 30–40 characters, a 25 × 25 or 29 × 29 code, readable at 2 cm. A page on your own site, yourname.com/resume, is the most durable; update the file behind it and old copies still open the current version.

Where to put it

Top right, beside your email and phone, is where a reader expects contact details, and it keeps the code off the main text. Add a caption in the same small type as your contact line: ‘Portfolio’ or ‘Full CV and references’. Print the link as text as well, because many companies run resumes through parsing software that ignores images.

Size and printing

Two centimetres wide with the quiet zone, dark on white, no logo, no colour. Laser and inkjet both print a 25 × 25 module code cleanly at that size. Print the page, scan the code with a phone, then drop the PDF into the QR code reader to confirm the embedded image decodes to the right address.

Common mistakes

• A share link that requires a login or expires.
• Placing the code over a coloured header band.
• Scaling a small PNG up in the document, which blurs the modules.

This code never expires

The link is stored inside the code, so every copy of your resume that is still in a drawer opens whatever is at that address today. 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.

Print the code 2 cm wide, 1.8 cm at the smallest, with its white margin; it is scanned from 20–30 cm, and a short link keeps it at 25 × 25 modules.

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

Frequently asked questions