Roughly 99% of tips about QR codes are not really on QR codes at all - they are focused on mobile advertising campaigns. This column is about how to accurately design and print QR codes that can be printed accurately and scanned with success.
A code that is impossible to scan will be quickly ignored by people - and it will fail to achieve any market results. That is what this column is about - how to make QR code symbols that will be effectively scanned.
1. Start with a short URL - There is no incentive to have a long,
multi-tiered URL in a QR code. And the penalty for having one can be costly. Rather than mycompany.com/marketingcampain1/qrsymbols/magazines/mymobilelandingpage.htm. Instead just choose mycompany.com/123456.htm and make that link redirect to whatever valid landing page you want.
2. Change domain names to upper case - Did you know that domain names are not sensitive to upper and lower case? That fact means MYCOMPANY.COM is similar to mycompany.com. Upper case letters are encoded into QR Codes much more successfully than lower case, so you can keep a lot of room in the QR symbol by employing upper case.
3. Keep the module size large - This is the key to success. QR symbols in which each module is at least .030 are easy to read. Larger modules are even still. However, avoid making them too large or the overall symbol will grow to over 1 inch.
4. Keep the size of the symbol to less than 1 inch - The problem with large symbols is that to capture it with a phone's camera the user has to back away from the symbol. And by backing away, the resolution on each module is reduced, increasing the chance of error.
Not surprisingly, the 4 recommendations above are interrelated:
1. Start with a short URL so the overall symbol does not have to use many modules to encode the data
2. Converting your domain name to upper case further reduces the number of modules required
3. Keep the module size large so it will be easy to read,
4. This is made possible because you have so few modules and you can then keep the symbol size to less than 1 inch.
Verify the print quality of the symbol with a
barcode checker. There is a grading system in the world of bar codes that gives a quality grade of A, B, C, D or F to a code. The best codes with an A grade are easier to read than codes with lower grades.
Generally speaking, any code with a grade of C or better will be readable by any scanner, but for safety against dirt or other wear and tear that may occur on a symbol it is best to make sure that your symbols get a B grade when they are produced.
Technically, a bar code grade is only valid when it is associated with a specific type of lighting and resolution. So this would translate to B/10/W or sometimes 3.0/10/W (where B is represented as 3.0).
