How to put a QR code on a flyer (and get people to scan it)

A flyer has about three seconds. Someone picks it up from a café counter or pulls it out of their letterbox, glances at it, and decides whether it goes in their bag or the bin. A QR code can turn that glance into something useful, like a booking, a ticket or a sale, but only if the person holding the flyer notices it, understands it and can scan it on the first try.

Most flyer codes fail at one of those three steps. This guide goes through each one.

Start with what the code should do

Before you open a design tool, decide what a scan should lead to. "Our website" is rarely the right answer. The person scanning has just read about one specific thing, and the code should take them straight to it.

• An event flyer should open the event: date, place, map and a button to get tickets or add it to the calendar.
• A sale or promotion should open the offer itself, with the discount code ready to copy.
• A new restaurant or café should open the menu, not the homepage.
• A property flyer should open the listing, with photos and a way to book a viewing.
• A class, club or service should open the booking or sign-up page.

If the page behind the code makes people look for the thing the flyer promised, you lose most of them right there.

Use a code you can change later

Flyers outlive their plans. The event moves to a bigger venue, the offer is extended, the booking page gets a new address. If the link is printed straight into the code, any of those changes means reprinting the whole stack.

A dynamic code avoids that. It prints a short link, and you choose where the link goes from a dashboard. You can fix a typo, swap the page or point an old flyer at your next event, and every printed copy follows. The difference between static and dynamic codes is worth two minutes if you haven't met it.

Check how long the code keeps working before you print, especially on free plans. Some services switch codes off after a short trial, which leaves a few thousand flyers pointing at a payment page.

Put it next to the call to action

People scan what the flyer tells them to scan. A code tucked into the bottom corner, next to the small print, reads as decoration.

Place it beside the main message, and tell people what happens when they scan:

• "Scan for tickets"
• "Scan to see the menu"
• "Scan for 20% off"
• "Scan to book a free trial class"

Those few words matter more than most design choices. A code with a reason next to it gets scanned. A bare code mostly gets ignored.

A frame with a short label printed around the code does the same job and keeps the design tidy. Most QR code generators include frames now.

Size and spacing

A flyer is read at arm's length, so the code doesn't need to be large. 2 x 2 cm is the minimum for comfortable scanning, and 2.5 to 3 cm is safer if your printer or paper is on the cheap side.

If the flyer will also go up on a wall or a noticeboard, size it for the distance people will stand from it. A good rule is that the code should be about a tenth as wide as the scanning distance, so a flyer read from a metre away wants a code around 10 cm wide. The QR code size chart has the numbers for other distances.

Leave a margin of plain background around the code, about four of its small squares wide on every side. Designers like to tuck codes against borders or photos. Scanners need that empty space to find the edges.

Colours and print

Dark code on a light background, always. Brand colours are fine as long as the code stays clearly darker than what's behind it. Navy on white scans well. Pale pink on white doesn't. Avoid putting the code over a photo or a pattern, even a subtle one.

Export the code as a vector file, SVG or PDF, for print. A small PNG that looks sharp on screen can turn soft and blurry once the printer scales it up. If you're unsure which format your printer wants, our guide to PNG, SVG and PDF for print covers it.

Glossy paper reflects light, which can make codes harder to scan under bright lights. If your flyer is glossy, test it under the kind of light it will be read in.

Find out which flyers actually worked

This is the part most people skip, and it's the most useful.

If you leave flyers in five places, say two cafés, a gym, a library and a letterbox drop, give each stack its own code. They can all point to the same page. Because each code counts its own scans, you'll know after a week which locations brought people in and which were a waste of paper.

The next print run then goes only where it worked. Over a few rounds, that saves more money than any discount the printer could give you.

If you also use Google Analytics, add UTM tags to the link so the visits show up as coming from the flyer and not as "direct". The UTM guide shows how.

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Linking to a page that doesn't work on phones. Every scan comes from a phone. Open the link on yours before printing.
• No words near the code. Without a reason to scan, most people won't.
• A code too small or too close to the edge. Under 2 cm, or with no margin around it, and scans start failing.
• Printing before testing. Print one copy, scan it with an iPhone and an Android, and check where it lands.
• Using a static code for anything time-sensitive. If the date, price or page could change, use a dynamic code.
• One code for every location. You'll know how many people scanned in total, but not where they came from.

A quick checklist before you print

1. The code opens the exact page the flyer promises. 2. The page works well on a phone. 3. The code is dynamic, so you can change it later. 4. There's a short line next to it saying what scanning does. 5. It's at least 2 cm wide, with clear space around it. 6. It's dark on a light background, exported as SVG or PDF. 7. Each distribution spot has its own code. 8. You've scanned a printed test copy with two different phones.

For more on sizing, placement and materials, see our guide to QR codes on flyers. If your flyer is for an event, the event page generator builds the page your code opens, with the date, map and a ticket button already laid out.