vCard QR code

How it works

1. Type the name, and whichever of the phone, email and company should be on the card.
2. Keep it short. Every extra field makes the code denser and harder to scan off paper.
3. Raise the error correction if you are putting a logo in the middle.
4. Download the PNG and put it on the card, the badge or the window.

Frequently asked questions

What happens when someone scans it?

Their phone offers to save the contact. No app is needed — the camera app on both iPhone and Android recognises a vCard and hands it to the address book. That is why this is on a business card and a plain URL to a contact page is not.

Why does it get harder to scan when I add fields?

Because a QR code grows a version every few dozen characters, and each version adds modules. A dense code needs a bigger print, a better camera and more light. Name, phone and email is the set that stays comfortably scannable off a business card; an address pushes it.

Which vCard version is it?

3.0, because every phone camera reads it. 4.0 is tidier but the point of this particular code is that it works on whatever the other person is holding.

Can I put a logo in the middle?

Yes, and set the error correction to Q or H when you do. The code can lose a quarter to a third of itself and still be read, but only if it was made with that margin to begin with.

Is my phone number sent anywhere?

No. The code is drawn in your browser from what you typed. Nothing is uploaded, which matters more here than on most pages, because what you are typing is somebody's contact details.

Is it free?

Yes, and there is no watermark on the code.