QR code for a business card
A code on a business card turns a card that gets filed into a contact that gets saved. One scan and your name, number and email are in their phone, spelled correctly, without anyone typing.
Card printing is unforgiving though — small format, heavy design pressure, and a single pass that cannot be corrected afterwards. Most business card codes fail for reasons that have nothing to do with the code itself.
Use a contact card, not a link to your website
A vCard code offers to save you as a contact. A website code opens a page, which is a different and much weaker outcome: the person has to find your details on the site and copy them, which they will not do while standing at a conference.
The job of a business card is to be kept. Choose the code type that results in you being in their address book by name, because that is what makes you findable six months later.
Protect the quiet zone
The blank margin around a code is part of the code. Scanners use it to find the symbol edge, and it needs to be about four modules wide. Designers under space pressure crop it, butt the code against a rule or a photo, and the result scans badly for reasons nobody can see.
On a card, give the code at least 2cm square plus that margin. If the layout cannot afford it, make the card work harder elsewhere rather than shrinking the code — a code too small to scan is worse than no code, because it looks like something that should work.
Keep the payload small
Every field you add makes the grid finer. Name, one phone number, one email and a company name stay comfortably sparse. Add a postal address, three numbers, a job title, a website and a note and the symbol needs more detail than card stock and a 2cm square can carry.
Choose the fields somebody would actually use to reach you. If you want to offer more, put a link inside the contact card pointing at a page that holds the rest.
Printing: contrast, colour and stock
Dark on light, high contrast, and ideally black on white. Brand colours with low contrast, light foregrounds and inverted codes all cut the margin a camera has to work with, and a card is usually read in bad indoor light.
Uncoated and textured stocks spread ink slightly, which thickens modules and closes the gaps between them. If you are printing on anything textured, go a size larger than you think you need and ask the printer for a proof you can scan before committing to the run.
Test the actual printed card
Scan the proof, not the artwork on screen. A code that reads perfectly as a PDF on a monitor can fail on card, and that is exactly what the proof is for.
Test with an old phone as well as a new one, in ordinary indoor light rather than by a window. The oldest camera in your likely audience sets your floor, and a conference hall is darker than any office.
Common questions
- What size should a QR code be on a business card?
- At least 2cm square, plus a clear margin of about four modules around it. If the layout cannot afford that, rework the layout rather than shrinking the code — one too small to scan looks like something that should work and does not.
- Should the code link to my website or save my contact details?
- Save your contact details as a vCard. A website makes the person hunt for your number and copy it, which nobody does at a conference. The point of a card is to be kept, so aim for being in their address book by name.
- Can I print the code in my brand colours?
- Only with strong contrast, dark on light. Light foregrounds, inverted codes and low-contrast brand palettes all reduce the margin a camera has to work with, and business cards are usually read in poor indoor light.
- Why does my business card code scan on screen but not on the card?
- Usually ink spread on uncoated or textured stock, which thickens the modules and closes the gaps. Print a size larger than feels necessary and scan a physical proof before committing to the run.
- Should I put my photo in the contact code?
- No. A QR code holds around 3KB of binary data and even a small compressed photo exceeds that, producing a symbol far too dense for a business card. Reference an image by URL if you want one at all.
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