Contact QR codes: vCard QR or digital business card

Spelling out your email address at a conference, or watching someone squint at a paper card and type your number wrong, gets old fast. A QR code lets people save your details with one scan, exactly as you wrote them.

There are two kinds of contact QR code, and they suit different people. Here's how each one works and how to pick.

Option 1: a vCard QR code

A vCard is the standard file format for contact details. Phones, Gmail, Outlook and Apple Contacts all read it. A vCard QR code puts the whole contact card inside the code itself.

Here's roughly what's inside one:

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
N:Khan;Sara;;;
FN:Sara Khan
ORG:Khan Studio
TITLE:Designer
TEL;TYPE=CELL:+44 7700 900123
EMAIL;TYPE=INTERNET:sara@example.com
URL:https://example.com
END:VCARD

When someone points their phone camera at the code, the phone reads those lines and shows a contact card with an option to save it. On an iPhone, the camera shows a banner to tap. On Android, the camera or Google Lens does the same. Outlook, Gmail and Apple Contacts can all import the same details as a .vcf file.

What's good about it:

• It works without an internet connection, because the details are in the code.
• There's nothing to host and nothing that can go offline.
• Each detail lands in the right field: mobile in mobile, email in email.

What to watch:

• It's fixed. Change your number or job and you need a new code and a reprint.
• More details mean a denser code. Every field you add makes the squares smaller. A dense code scans fine on a screen but may struggle printed small on a card.
• No photo. A photo would make the code far too dense for a camera to read.

You can make one with our vCard QR code generator. It also gives you the same details as a .vcf file to attach to emails.

Option 2: a QR code that opens a page

The other approach is a QR code that points to a page about you: a digital business card. The code holds only a short address. The page holds everything else: your photo, your links, your work, and a button that saves your contact.

What's good about it:

• You can change it any time. Edit the page and the printed code still works.
• It holds more than a card can. Your portfolio, booking link, WhatsApp, social profiles.
• The code stays simple, so it scans easily even when printed small.

What to watch:

• People need a data connection to open the page.
• It's one extra tap: scan, open the page, then save the contact.

Our free digital business card maker gives you a .vcf file (with your photo inside it), a QR code and a card image to share, all made in your browser.

Which one should you use?

• Printing a lot of cards, and your details rarely change? A vCard QR code is simple and needs nothing else.
• Changing jobs, numbers or links now and then? Point the code at a page.
• Want people to see your work, not just your number? A page.
• Handing out details where signal is poor, like a trade-show hall or a basement venue? A vCard QR code, because it works offline.

Plenty of people use both: a vCard QR on the back of the paper card, and a page QR on slides, badges and posters.

Printing tips that work for either

• Size: around 3 cm across is comfortable for a business card. Go bigger for posters and slides.
• Contrast: dark on light scans best. Avoid pale colours and busy backgrounds.
• Quiet zone: leave a white border around the code. Don't let the design crowd its edges.
• Fewer fields: for a vCard QR, drop the note or the address if the code looks dense.
• Phone numbers with the country code, such as +44 7700 900123, so they work for contacts abroad.
• Test it with two or three phones before ordering a print run.

Your Liite page as a contact card

A Liite page at liite.co/yourname works as a digital business card on its own. Fill in the Contact card in your page's header settings (email, phone and company) and a Save contact button appears at the top of your page. Tapping it downloads your contact card, so visitors save you straight to their phone.

Below that, the rest of your page holds whatever you want people to find: your links, your work, a booking button, your WhatsApp. Every page has its own QR code, and scans are counted separately in your stats, so you can see how many people actually used the code on your card.

When your number or your job title changes, edit the page. The QR code you've already printed keeps working.

Make a vCard QR with the vCard QR code generator, or make your free page and get a contact card you never have to reprint.