Why should a packaging QR code be dynamic?

Because the print run is the expensive part. A dynamic code lets you fix a broken link, redirect to a new product page or change the campaign without touching artwork that is already on a shelf.

What error correction level should I use on packaging?

H. Packs get creased, scuffed, wet and covered by a price sticker, and the highest level tolerates roughly thirty per cent of the symbol being lost.

How small can a code on a label be?

Twenty millimetres is a safe floor on flat stock. On a curved bottle or a small tube, go larger and keep the code on the flattest area.

Do QR codes work on glossy or metallic packaging?

Often badly. Reflection is the main cause of scan failures in a shop. Use a matte panel behind the code, and test under bright overhead lighting rather than at a desk.

What if we stop paying while stock is still on shelves?

Codes keep redirecting to their last saved destination. That is the reason the policy exists - packaging is exactly the case where a dead redirect would be unforgivable.

QR code for packaging

Paste your product link and download it free. Make it dynamic, because a pack printed today can be on a shelf long after that URL has moved.

What the code points at

Paste the real destination. Its length changes the answer — that is the point.

What it goes on

Arm’s length

Error correction

Q — 25% recovery. The right default for packaging.

Print it at least

30 mm(1.18 in) square

Set by the scan distance. At 300 mm away, a code needs about a tenth of that across. The data would allow 15 mm, so you have room to spare.

Symbol version: 3 — 37 modules with quiet zone
Error correction used: Q — 25% recovery
Module size at that print size: 0.81 mm
Quiet zone: 3.2 mm clear on every side
Minimum readable: 15 mm, whatever the maths says

Send the SVG. It is vector, so the printer sets it to 30 mm exactly and no resampling happens on the way.

Shown at print size

On screen this is only as accurate as your display. Print this page and measure it — at 30 mm it should match a ruler, and if it does not, the artwork was scaled somewhere.

Packaging and labels

Why this one should be dynamic

Packaging is the most expensive place to be wrong. Print runs are large, lead times are long, and stock sits in a warehouse for months before anyone scans it. A static code commits you to a URL that has to survive every site migration between now and the last unit sold.

Print risk

The pack outlives the URL

Site migrations, product renames and retired campaigns all break static codes on stock you have already paid for. A dynamic code absorbs all of it.

Batches

A code per run, if you want one

Separate codes per batch or per market let you send different packs to different pages and see which ones move.

After the sale

Instructions, recipes, refills

What the customer needs changes over the life of the product. The pack does not have to.

Before it goes to print

The spec sheet for this job

A code that scans on a screen can still fail on paper. These are the numbers that decide it.

Print one at final size, on the final material, and scan it from where a real person will stand - across a table, at arm's length, from the pavement. Do that before the run, not after. It is the only test that matters, and it takes a minute.

Minimum size: 20 mm square, 25 mm on curved surfaces
Curvature: Keep the code on the flattest panel available
Error correction: H - packaging gets creased, scuffed and wet
Quiet zone: 4 modules minimum, more near a seam or fold
Substrate: Test on the actual material, not on office paper
Finish: Matte varnish over the code; gloss blows out under store lights

Our policy

Static codes never expire. Dynamic codes work while you have a plan.

A static QR code carries its destination inside the pattern itself. There is no redirect, no server, nothing anyone can switch off - so the ones you make here are yours forever, free, with no account and no expiry date. If what you need is a code that outlives us, make it static and print it.

A dynamic code is different: it points at a redirect we run on your behalf every time somebody scans it, which is what lets you change the destination after printing. That runs while you have a plan. Cancel and it keeps working for 30 more days, we email you before anything changes, and nothing is ever deleted - your codes, links and scan history all wait for you.

What lasts, and for how long

ForeverStatic codes, free, no account
On a planEditable destinations and scan analytics
30 daysDynamic codes keep working after you cancel
KeptCodes and history, so paying restores everything
StoppedCodes used for abuse

Abuse is the one thing we stop immediately and without a grace period - phishing, malware, fraud, impersonation and the rest of the acceptable use policy.

Static or dynamic

Which one belongs on this

Static stays free forever. Dynamic starts at $12 a month once you pass the free plan's 3 codes.

	Static	Dynamic
Price	Free forever	3 free, then a plan
Account needed	No	Yes, to save and edit it
Change what it says	Never. The content is inside the pattern	The destination, any time
What is inside the code	The content itself - a link, a network, a contact card	A short link we own, which is what you edit
Scan analytics	None	Scans, day, city, device
Expiry	Never	Never, including after you cancel
Best for	Wi-Fi, contact cards, anything that must work offline	Menus, packaging, signage, campaigns

See all plans

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

Questions

Packaging and labels, answered

Why should a packaging QR code be dynamic?: Because the print run is the expensive part. A dynamic code lets you fix a broken link, redirect to a new product page or change the campaign without touching artwork that is already on a shelf.
What error correction level should I use on packaging?: H. Packs get creased, scuffed, wet and covered by a price sticker, and the highest level tolerates roughly thirty per cent of the symbol being lost.
How small can a code on a label be?: Twenty millimetres is a safe floor on flat stock. On a curved bottle or a small tube, go larger and keep the code on the flattest area.
Do QR codes work on glossy or metallic packaging?: Often badly. Reflection is the main cause of scan failures in a shop. Use a matte panel behind the code, and test under bright overhead lighting rather than at a desk.
What if we stop paying while stock is still on shelves?: Codes keep redirecting to their last saved destination. That is the reason the policy exists - packaging is exactly the case where a dead redirect would be unforgivable.

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