FreeOnlineQR

Guides guides

Practical, no-fluff guides for getting the most out of your QR codes and barcodes.

Aug 19

Plain Text QR Codes: The Simplest Type, and When to Use It

Every other QR type points somewhere online. Plain text is the one type that needs nothing hosted at all — the answer is inside the code itself.

Guides 3 min readRead
Aug 18

SMS QR Codes: Pre-Fill a Text Message with a Scan

An SMS QR code doesn't send a text automatically — it just gets someone one tap away from sending exactly the message you need from them.

Guides 3 min readRead
Aug 10

Email QR Codes: Pre-Fill a Message Before Anyone Types a Word

An email QR code doesn't just save someone your address — it can write half the message for them too.

Guides 3 min readRead
Jul 29

Batch-Generating QR Codes: When and How to Do It Right

Making one QR code and making five hundred unique ones are different problems — here's how to think about the second one properly.

Guides 8 min readRead
Jul 27

How to Test a QR Code Before You Print 500 of Them

A QR code that scans perfectly on your laptop screen can still fail once it's printed. Here's the checklist to run before committing to a real print order.

Guides 7 min readRead
Jul 24

QR Code Size Guide for Print: Business Cards to Billboards

There's a genuine formula behind QR code sizing, not just a rule of thumb — and it depends entirely on how far away someone will be standing when they scan it.

Guides 7 min readRead
Jul 22

Why Won't My QR Code Scan? 9 Common Causes and Fixes

Before assuming your printer or your customers' phones are broken, check this list — it's almost always one of a handful of well-known, fixable causes.

Guides 9 min readRead
Jul 13

ITF-14 and Case Barcodes: A Guide to Shipping and Carton Labels

The barcode on a shipping case looks similar to the one on the product inside it — but it's encoding something meaningfully different.

Guides 7 min readRead