How big should a QR code be?
Too small and it won't scan. Here's how to turn scan distance into an exact size.
The short answer is a 10:1 ratio: a QR code needs roughly 1 unit of width for every 10 units of scanning distance. A code people scan from 10 inches away should be about 1 inch square, and one scanned from 10 feet across a parking lot should be about a foot wide. Round up rather than down, because a code that runs a little large always scans and one that runs a little small sometimes doesn't.
Minimum sizes by where it lives
- Business card or product label: about 0.8 to 1 inch (2 to 2.5 cm), scanned at arm's length.
- Flyer or menu: around 1.2 inches (3 cm) for a handheld read.
- Poster or window sign: 2 to 4 inches, since people scan from a few feet back.
- Yard sign or banner: 8 inches and up, sized for the curb.
Treat those as starting points. To size for an exact distance, run the numbers through our size calculator or check the scan distance and print size table.
Leave room for the quiet zone
The size that matters is the code plus its margin. A QR code needs an empty border around it, the quiet zone, of about four modules on every side, or a scanner struggles to find where the code begins. Budget for that margin instead of cropping the code tight to fit a layout.
Print it sharp, not just big
A large code that prints blurry fails as surely as a small one. Print from a vector file where you can, and if you're printing a raster image, render it at around 300 DPI at final size so the edges stay crisp. Higher error correction buys more margin: it keeps a code readable even when part of it is smudged, wrapped around a curved bottle, or covered by a logo.
Every TangoQR code downloads as a print-ready vector, so you can scale it from a business card to a billboard out of the same file.