QR code generator for Illustrator and InDesign

Make a QR code in InDesign

Adobe's InDesign guide gives these steps:

1. Choose Object → Generate QR Code.
2. On the Content tab, pick a type: Web Hyperlink, Plain Text, Text Message, Email or Business Card. Fill in the fields.
3. On the Color tab, pick a swatch if you want a colour. By default the code is black with a transparent background.
4. Click OK.

If you had a frame selected, the code goes into it. If not, you get a loaded cursor: click to place it at its default size, click into a frame, or drag to draw a new frame.

The result behaves like native vector art. You can scale it, colour it and apply print settings such as spot inks and overprint. To change the content later, select the frame and choose Object → Edit QR Code.

Make a QR code for Illustrator

Illustrator doesn't generate QR codes itself, so bring one in:

1. Make an SVG. In the generator below, enter your link or details, check the preview with your phone and click Download SVG. Tick the transparent background option if you want the code to sit on your artwork's colour.
2. Open or place it. Use File → Open to edit it as its own document, or File → Place to add it to your layout. SVG is vector, so every module stays a crisp square at any size.
3. Or paste from InDesign. Adobe notes that an InDesign QR code can be copied and pasted into Illustrator as a vector object.

Once it's in Illustrator you can recolour the modules. Don't move, round or delete individual modules: each one is data.

Keep it scannable in print

Design software lets you do things scanners don't like. Before you send the file to print:

• Contrast. Keep dark modules on a light background. Light codes on dark backgrounds fail in some camera apps, and pale tints or metallic inks can be too faint.
• White space. The QR specification asks for a clear margin four modules wide round the code. The SVG from this page has a narrower white border, so leave extra white space round the code in your layout. Don't let text, rules or images touch it.
• Size. For a short link scanned from arm's length, about 2 cm (0.8 in) wide is a sensible minimum. Long content makes a denser code that needs more room. See minimum QR code size.
• Keep it square. Scale proportionally. Don't skew, stretch or warp it with effects.
• Logos. If you put a logo in the middle, the code needs error correction level H, which can restore about 30% of the data. The generator here switches to H for you when you add a logo. Keep the logo small and clear of the three corner squares.
• Overprint and knockouts. If you've set the code to overprint on a coloured background, check the separations: a dark background showing through makes the code unreadable.

Which file to use

• SVG for Illustrator, InDesign and anything going to a printer: vector, sharp at any size.
• PNG for Word, slides, email and the web. Pick the largest size if it'll be printed, then scale it down rather than up.

Test the proof

Scan the code on a printed proof, not just on screen. Try two or three phones from the distance people will use. How to test a QR code has a checklist.

Related guides

• Minimum QR code size
• How to test a QR code
• QR codes in marketing and advertising