Does a URL QR code expire?

The code you download here does not. The address is encoded into the symbol itself, so there is no server involved and nothing to switch off. It will keep working as long as the page it points at exists, which is the part worth protecting.

Can I change where a printed URL code points?

Not with a static code — the address is physically part of the pattern. If you need that, create a dynamic code: the printed image points at a short redirect you control, and you can change the destination whenever you like without reprinting anything.

Why does my long link produce such a dense code?

Every character adds modules. A link with UTM parameters can easily double the grid size compared with the bare address, which makes each module smaller at the same printed size and harder for a camera to resolve. Shorten the link, or use a dynamic code and add the parameters on the redirect.

Should I include https:// in the code?

Yes. Encode the complete address with its scheme. Without it, some scanners treat the contents as plain text and display it rather than opening the page, which costs you the scan.

Is there a watermark on the free download?

No. Static codes are free, unlimited and unbranded here, in every format including print-ready vector. We would rather you print a good code than pay us for the privilege of removing a logo from it.

URL QR code generator

A URL code is the simplest of the lot: the address goes into the symbol exactly as typed, and a phone opens it. That simplicity is also where the mistakes live, because the address you encode is the address you are stuck with once the code is printed.

Paste a link below and you get a code you can download as PNG, SVG or a print-ready PDF. No account, no watermark, and nothing expires.

What should it do

Open a web page.

Content

Web address (required)

Design

Module shape

Eye frame

Eye centre

Error correction

Code colour

#111111

Background

#ffffff

Logo in the middle

Keep the address short, and the code stays readable

Every character you encode adds modules to the grid. A 25-character link fits in a version 2 symbol at 25×25 modules; a 300-character link with tracking parameters pushes past version 10 and 57×57. Same physical size on paper, four times as many modules, each one a quarter the width — and a camera has to resolve every one of them.

That is why a long link scans badly on a poster read from two metres away, and why trimming query parameters before encoding is worth more than any design choice. If you need the tracking, put it on a dynamic code and let the redirect add the parameters after the scan.

Use https, and use the real hostname

Encode the full address including the scheme. A code containing example.com with no https:// leaves the phone guessing, and some scanners will treat it as plain text and show it rather than open it.

Avoid link shorteners you do not control. The code outlives the service: if the shortener changes hands or shuts down, every printed copy points at whatever replaces it. That is the one failure mode a printed code cannot recover from, and it is the reason a dynamic code on your own domain is worth the subscription for anything you commit to print.

When a static URL code is the right answer

A static code carries the address itself, so it works with no server, no account and no ongoing cost. Nothing can switch it off. For a link that will never change — a company homepage, a documentation site, a permanent booking page — that permanence is a feature, and paying a subscription to proxy it would buy you nothing.

Choose a dynamic code instead when the destination might move, when you want scan counts, or when you want one printed code to point somewhere different next month. The image stays the same; only the redirect changes.

Test it the way it will be used

Print it at the size you intend, then scan it from the distance people will actually stand at. A rule of thumb that holds up: the code needs about one tenth of the reading distance in width, so a code read from a metre away wants to be about 10cm across.

Check it on a cheap Android phone as well as a current iPhone. Camera quality, not the code, is usually what decides whether a marginal print works, and the oldest phone in the room is the one that sets your floor.

Common questions

Does a URL QR code expire?: The code you download here does not. The address is encoded into the symbol itself, so there is no server involved and nothing to switch off. It will keep working as long as the page it points at exists, which is the part worth protecting.
Can I change where a printed URL code points?: Not with a static code — the address is physically part of the pattern. If you need that, create a dynamic code: the printed image points at a short redirect you control, and you can change the destination whenever you like without reprinting anything.
Why does my long link produce such a dense code?: Every character adds modules. A link with UTM parameters can easily double the grid size compared with the bare address, which makes each module smaller at the same printed size and harder for a camera to resolve. Shorten the link, or use a dynamic code and add the parameters on the redirect.
Should I include https:// in the code?: Yes. Encode the complete address with its scheme. Without it, some scanners treat the contents as plain text and display it rather than opening the page, which costs you the scan.
Is there a watermark on the free download?: No. Static codes are free, unlimited and unbranded here, in every format including print-ready vector. We would rather you print a good code than pay us for the privilege of removing a logo from it.