vCard contact card QR code generator

Keep the card short#

This is the one QR type where restraint really pays. A link is perhaps 30 characters; a fully filled contact card can run past 250 once you add a company, job title, street address and website. That difference pushes the grid from around 29×29 modules to over 50×50, and at business-card size those modules get small enough that a phone struggles in dim restaurant light.

In practice, a name, one phone number and one email address cover almost every exchange. Add the company if the name alone would not mean anything in a week. Leave the postal address out unless people genuinely post you things — it is usually the single most expensive field on the card.

If your details change often, a link code pointing at a page you control ages better than a contact card, because you can edit the page without reprinting anything.

Phone numbers travel further in international format#

Write the number with a country code, as +44 20 7183 8750 rather than 020 7183 8750. A saved contact is useless abroad without it, and it costs nothing at the point of entry. The generator strips spaces and formatting characters before encoding, so type it however is comfortable.

On a business card, size the code properly#

Give a contact code at least 2 cm square on a printed card, more if you have filled in several fields. Keep the quiet zone clear — designers often crop it to reclaim space, and it is the most common reason a card that looked fine in the file will not scan on paper. Print a single proof and scan it before ordering five hundred.

1. Fill in the fields you actually want on the card, starting with name, phone and email.
2. Watch the grid size in the readout. If it climbs past about 45 by 45, remove a field.
3. Download the SVG and place it in your artwork at 2 cm or larger, with the white margin intact.
4. Print one proof, scan it on a phone that is not yours, and check the saved contact.