QR codes can be read & scanned from your mobile phone, with a free “Mobile QR Reader” QR codes have been around in Japan for the a number of years, it then merged into Europe a while back, and is now starting to really make headway here in the US. You can create custom QR Codes for FREE by using our “QR Code Generator.” They can be used in a number of creative ways.
You can easily integrate them into your flyer & brochure handouts and your regular print advertising, you can place them on your website for visitors to scan, on T-shirts, create stickers to give away, or place large QR codes on your vehicle for advertising your product or service, also you can put them on your business cards to give to your potential clients or customers.
In it’s simplest sense think “print based hypertext link” – simply encode a URL into the QR Code and then point a mobile phone (or other camera-enabled mobile) at it. If the device has had QR Code decoding software installed on it, it will fire up its browser and go straight to that URL.
But it doesn’t stop there – a QR Code can also contain phone numbers, an SMS message, V-Card data or just simple alphanumeric text, and all the scanning devices will respond by opening up the correct application to handle the encoded data appropriately courtesy of the FNC1 Application Identifiers that are embedded in the encoded data.
The technical specifications for a QR Code are set down in the ISO-18004 standard so they are the same all over the world, and the only signifcant variations from one QR code to another (apart from the data it contains) is the number of modules required to store the data. A Version 1 QR Code is a 21×21 array of data elements with the array increasing in size by 4 modules for each increase in version number. The largest standard QR Code is a Version 40 symbol that 177×177 modules in size and can hold up 4296 characters of alphanumeric data (theoretically) compared to 25 characters for a Version 1 QR Code.
While there is still a lot of scope for improvement, the resolution of average present-day camera-enabled portable devices is such that the size of the data modules (dots) on a QR Code of Version 5 or above (37×37) presents a real risk of incorrect decoding of the symbol by the device. When creating a QR Code intended for use with mobile phones and PDA’s it’s best to stick to Version 4 or lower, and a QR Code symbol of at least 2cm (0.85inches) across.
To make things a bit more robust, the QR Code also contains its own error correction data, internal orientation calibration and self-alignment markers. In this way it doesn’t matter whether the QR code is upside down or wrapped around a curved surface, the message will still get through.
Different Types of QR Codes
You can give it a try, just take out your iPhone or Android smartphone and use your barcode scanner to try the QR codes below. There are many “FREE” 2D barcode readers to choose from, we recommend Quickmark for Android
And QR Reader for iPhone by “TapMedia”
Some Typical QR Codes Uses:
- Share your contact information on your business card.
- Adding calendar events, you can also share your calendar invites to your clients and potential customers.
- Direct customers to a specific website or “squeeze-page” about your business, product or service.
- You can send your customers to a picture or video message about your product or service.
- Direct people to call a specific phone number or extension.
- Send out directions for your special events and promotions.
- List your product or service information and prices
- Great for websites
- Put them on billboard ads
- In-Store Displays
- Use them for Event Ticketing and Tracking
- Event & Trade-Show Management
- Insert them in your Print Ads
- Invite your customers to a contest
- Use them in Direct Mail Campaigns
- Boost your Email Marketing
- Create & use as a coupon
- Send text up to 160 characters