QR Code Guide
Dynamic versus static QR codes, how large to print a code for a given scan distance, restaurant menu codes, what scan analytics can and cannot tell you, and how a photograph is dithered into a scannable code — including why it can fail in close-up, which photos work, and halftone versus dithered.
- Dynamic vs static QR codesA dynamic QR encodes a short redirect link, not your page. When static is right, what happens if the service goes offline, why print makes dynamic worth it.
- How big should a printed QR code be?Print size vs scan distance (the distance-over-ten rule), module size, the four-module quiet zone, error correction L/M/Q/H, and print faults that break scans.
- QR codes for a restaurant menuA QR menu that survives menu changes: table tents, seasonal swaps, one code per table or one for all, what scan stats show, and why a paper menu stays.
- What QR scan analytics actually measureWhat a redirect service can see when a phone scans a dynamic QR code, what it cannot (no identity, no camera), how to read the numbers, and the privacy framing.
- Dithered QR codes: how a photograph becomes a scannable codeHow error-diffusion dithering hides a working QR code inside a photograph — the algorithm, why it still scans, and where it breaks.
- Why an artistic QR code can fail when you scan it too closelyA measured result: photo QR codes can read from across a room and fail in close-up, because of how scanners threshold an image in 8×8 blocks.
- Which photo works inside a QR codePractical rules for picking an image for a dithered QR code: contrast, subject size, faces, logos, and the crops that survive a nine-pixel module.
- Halftone QR codes vs dithered QR codesHalftone QR generators split every module into a 3×3 grid; dithered ones diffuse the error instead. Why one looks like a photograph and the other like a grid.
Print the square once. Decide later where it goes. SWAPQR makes static QR codes for free, with every style option, no account and no watermark. A paid plan turns a code dynamic: the printed square stays the same while you change its destination, and you see how often it was scanned, by day and by device.
Make a QR code in the browserA dynamic code only works while the redirect service that it points to is online; a static code has no such dependency. Scan counts are approximate and never identify a person. This guide describes how QR codes and this app behave; it is not legal advice on printing, accessibility or privacy rules in your country.