QR Code Checklist Before You Print
Before sending any QR code to print, confirm seven things: the content is correct and verified by opening the actual URL or text in a browser; the size fits the expected scan distance; the quiet zone margin is intact and nothing crops into it; contrast between dots and background is strong under the real lighting it'll be viewed in; error correction is high enough, level H if a logo is added or the print environment is rough; the export is SVG for anything getting resized; and a single physical proof has been printed and test-scanned on at least two different phones.
Content comes first, and it's worth checking in the most literal way possible: open the exact URL, or review the exact text, contact details, or WiFi credentials that were actually encoded, not just what was intended to be encoded. Typos, draft page links, and outdated information are the single most common reason a perfectly functional QR code ends up pointing at the wrong thing, and none of that is caught by a scan test alone — a code can scan flawlessly while still opening the wrong page.
Physical presentation matters just as much as content. Size the code appropriately for how far away it'll be scanned from — a code on a restaurant table needs to be much smaller than one on a highway billboard, and getting this wrong makes an otherwise perfect code unusable. Keep the quiet zone, the blank margin around the code, fully intact; a design that crops or overlaps that margin with text or graphics can stop a scanner from locking onto the pattern at all. And check contrast between the dots and background specifically under the lighting the code will actually be viewed in, not just on a bright screen or well-lit desk.
Error correction level deserves a deliberate choice, not a default. If a logo or image sits on top of the code, error correction should be at level H, the highest tier, since it needs enough redundancy to recover the data even with a chunk of the pattern covered. The same applies to codes destined for rough print environments — cheap paper, low-DPI printers, outdoor exposure — where physical wear is more likely to damage part of the pattern over time.
For the file itself, export as SVG for anything that might get resized, printed at multiple sizes, or handed off to a print shop that could rescale it without asking — this avoids the quality loss that comes from a raster file being stretched. And the final, non-negotiable step is printing one physical proof at actual size and material, then test-scanning it with at least two different phones, ideally one iPhone and one Android, under real conditions. This single step catches nearly every real-world failure mode this checklist is designed to prevent, before it costs a full print run instead of one sheet of paper.