Summary: This article describes how to make a QR code and describes the selection criteria you should use for selecting a QR code generator website or program. QR codes are not all alike and QR code generators are not all alike. |
Several Web sites will convert a standard URL into a Quick Response (QR) code, those square-shaped codes that are popping up on ads and billboards. Once converted, you can download the QR image file and then attach it to your e-mail signature, upload it as a Facebook profile photo, print it or post it elsewhere online. Some QR-conversion sites can also encode maps, text, phone numbers or RSS feeds.
This site has a Free QR-code generator below and in the right column. Other QR code-generating sites include Kaywa, Qurify and Delivr. The Google URL Shortener will also create a QR code file from a shortened link — just click Details to see the image file. To be readable, the QR-code should have a “Quiet Zone” (border) with a width at least 4 modules (or pixels) wide. The modules (pixels) are the small squares in the body of the QR code.
QR codes are basically two-dimensional bar codes that can be interpreted by a mobile phone camera equipped with a code-reading app. Once the QR code is scanned, for instance, the Web address embedded in the image pops up on the phone’s browser, saving the phone’s owner some typing.
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