How do I turn a PDF into a QR code?

Choose the file at the top of this page and press Sign up to save your PDF. After you sign up, your code is made with that file, and you download it as PNG or SVG (print-ready PDF export comes with Starter and up).

Is a PDF QR code free?

Yes. Free includes 3 dynamic codes with no card, and a PDF code uses one of them. Paid plans start at $12 a month, for more codes and longer scan history.

How large can the PDF be?

Up to 10 MB. Smaller is better for the people scanning: under 5 MB opens quickly on mobile data.

Can I replace the PDF later without making a new code?

Yes. Upload the new file to the same code and every scan from then on opens it. The printed code, its short link and the address the file is served from all stay the same.

Why do I need an account to upload a PDF?

Because we keep the file online for as long as the code is used, and a file has to belong to somebody who can replace it or take it down. The file you choose here comes with you through sign-up, so you do not upload it twice.

Can a stranger find my PDF on Google?

No. The file is only reachable through its code, and it is served with instructions telling search engines not to index it. Anybody who has the code or its link can open it, though, so do not put private details in a document you print.

What happens to my PDF code if I cancel?

The code keeps opening the last file you saved for 30 days after the paid time ends, and we email you before that runs out. You cannot swap the file or read scans in the meantime. Nothing is deleted, so paying again brings it back.

PDF to QR code

Choose your PDF, up to 10 MB. Save it with a free account and your code is made with the file, ready to print. Upload a new edition later and the printed code opens that one.

Your PDF

Up to 10 MB. Nothing is uploaded until you save it.

A PDF code is made in your account, where the file is kept.

This is an example. Your code is made with your PDF once it is saved.

Design

Style

Colour#000000

Shapesquare

Body shape

Corner shape

Inside shape

Framelabel-below

Logonone

Print settingsECC M

PDF to QR code

Why this one should be dynamic

Menus, price lists, manuals, spec sheets and programmes all get a second edition. We keep the file behind a short link, so the code on the box, the table or the poster opens whichever version you uploaded last. There is no shared-drive link that asks for a sign-in, and no file that breaks when somebody tidies a folder.

Hosting

We keep the file online for you

Upload a PDF up to 10 MB and we serve it from our own address. It opens in the phone’s browser instead of a downloads folder, and it is kept out of search results.

New editions

Replace the file, keep the code

Upload the revised document and the next scan gets it. The earlier file stays in the code’s history with its date, one click from coming back.

Reach

See whether anyone opens it

Scans by day and by country for each document. You find out whether the manual in the box is read, and which leaflet people actually pick up.

After you save it

Your document, managed like a link

A café’s catering menu, kept as a PDF code in a sample account.

Editions

Every version of the document, in the order it went out

Upload the new file and the previous one moves into the history with the date and a note. Put an old edition back with one click if the new one was a mistake.

Destination history for a café’s catering-menu PDF code: the summer and spring menus and last year’s, each replaced on a date with a note, and each one a button away from being restored. — A catering-menu PDF code · history sample data

Scans

Did anybody open it?

Total scans and unique visitors by day, for one document or for all of them together.

Thirty days of analytics for a coffee company: totals for scans, unique visitors and live codes, over a bar chart of scans by day that climbs every weekend. — Analytics · the last 30 days sample data

Your name on it

The link on your own domain

Print a short link like docs.yourbrand.com/spring-menu instead of ours. Custom domains come with Starter and up.

Custom domain QR codes

A verified custom domain, go.fieldhousecoffee.example, with the TXT and CNAME records to copy into DNS and a button to check them again. — Custom domains · a verified hostname sample data

Many documents

Keep the manuals apart from the menus

Put codes into folders by product, shop or season, and find any document again in seconds. Folders come with Starter and up.

A coffee roaster’s codes filtered to the Retail bags folder: the house blend, Ethiopia Guji and decaf bag codes, each with its tags - 12oz, house blend, single origin, brew guide, decaf - its short link and its scans. — Codes sorted into folders sample data

Before it goes to print

The spec sheet for this job

Test the code and the file together before the run. Scan it on mobile data rather than office Wi-Fi and check the first page appears within a few seconds; a 40-page catalogue with full-resolution photos does not. Export the PDF for screen rather than for press, use portrait pages, and put what the reader needs on page one. Next to the code, say what opens: “Scan for the full manual” gets more scans than a bare square.

Print spec

On a document: 20 mm square minimum
On packaging: 25 mm, with a blank margin round it
File size: Up to 10 MB; under 5 MB opens fast
Page layout: Portrait reads best on a phone
Caption: Say what opens: “Scan for the manual”
Test: On mobile data, signed out

What lasts: static codes are yours forever, with no account. Dynamic codes run on a plan and keep working for 30 days after you cancel. The whole policy

Static or dynamic

Which one belongs on this

A PDF code is always dynamic: the file lives with us and the pattern holds a short link to it, which is what lets you replace the document. It uses one of the 3 dynamic codes on Free. If you already host the PDF yourself and it will never move, a free static website code pointing at its link also works, until the file is renamed or gets a new edition.

Pricing

Host a PDF on the Free plan

Free includes 3 dynamic codes, PDFs among them, with no card. Paid plans start at $12 a month.

Free

Unlimited static codes. Three editable ones that never expire.

Unlimited static QR codes, forever
3 editable items in total — dynamic QR codes, QR Menus and QR Forms share them
Dynamic codes never expire, and each comes with a short link
Short links on their own, no QR code needed

3dynamic codes

Starter

$12/mo

For one business with codes out in the world.

5 QR Menus
QR Forms
Advanced tracking and analytics
Live map of scans as they happen

100dynamic codes

Pro

Most chosen

$39/mo

For agencies and teams running codes at scale.

50 QR Menus
Unlimited analytics history
10 custom domains
API access

600dynamic codes

Business

$99/mo

For organisations running codes across many brands.

400 QR Menus
50 custom domains
Up to 25 team members and team management
Up to 10 workspaces

2,000dynamic codes

See all plans

Paid plans from $12/mo. Unlimited scans. Cancel online in two clicks.

Questions

PDF to QR code, answered

How do I turn a PDF into a QR code?: Choose the file at the top of this page and press Sign up to save your PDF. After you sign up, your code is made with that file, and you download it as PNG or SVG (print-ready PDF export comes with Starter and up).
Is a PDF QR code free?: Yes. Free includes 3 dynamic codes with no card, and a PDF code uses one of them. Paid plans start at $12 a month, for more codes and longer scan history.
How large can the PDF be?: Up to 10 MB. Smaller is better for the people scanning: under 5 MB opens quickly on mobile data.
Can I replace the PDF later without making a new code?: Yes. Upload the new file to the same code and every scan from then on opens it. The printed code, its short link and the address the file is served from all stay the same.
Why do I need an account to upload a PDF?: Because we keep the file online for as long as the code is used, and a file has to belong to somebody who can replace it or take it down. The file you choose here comes with you through sign-up, so you do not upload it twice.
Can a stranger find my PDF on Google?: No. The file is only reachable through its code, and it is served with instructions telling search engines not to index it. Anybody who has the code or its link can open it, though, so do not put private details in a document you print.
What happens to my PDF code if I cancel?: The code keeps opening the last file you saved for 30 days after the paid time ends, and we email you before that runs out. You cannot swap the file or read scans in the meantime. Nothing is deleted, so paying again brings it back.

A PDF code is one of our dynamic QR codes you can edit after printing. Printing a restaurant menu? The QR code for restaurant menus page covers table cards; for manuals and leaflets in the box, see QR codes on product packaging. Would rather show several documents behind one code? A QR code with multiple links puts them on one page of buttons.

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