A printed QR code you can change later

A QR code printed on a poster is stuck with whatever address you encoded. If that address is the final page, a moved room, a new form, or a typo means reprinting. Encode a short link instead. You can change the destination later. The ink stays.

Make the short link first

Create the short link to the page people should open: a signup, a menu, a map, a coupon. Then make the QR code from that short address, not from the long one.

A shorter address also keeps the pattern simpler, which helps a small print. You still need a quiet margin around the code and a size large enough for the distance people will scan from.

In LinkBit, open the link and download a PNG or SVG. Use the print-size PNG for paper. SVG is useful when the printer wants vector art. You can set a color and add the logo. The public QR generator does the same for any URL before you shorten it. For a brochure, the placement guide covers folds, quiet zone, and the sentence beside the code.

Write what the scan does

“Scan me” does not say what opens. Use a line that names the result: “Scan for today’s menu”, “Scan to join the waitlist”, “Scan for the workshop map”.

Put that line outside the quiet margin. If someone cannot scan, print a readable short address as well, and test that it is the real one.

What you learn after it is on paper

Each scan that follows the short link is a click. Stats show clicks, countries, devices, and referrers. A poster in two shops should be two short links if you want to know which shop was scanned. One short link is enough when you only need the total.

If the page moves, edit the destination. Reprint only when the short address itself must change, or when the label next to the code is no longer true.

A free link expires 30 days after you create it. A poster that stays on a wall longer than that needs Pro or Business, whose links do not expire. When the offer ends, point the destination at a page that says so, or disable the link.

Before the print run:

1. Print one copy at 100 percent, not “fit to page”.
2. Scan it in the light of the real room, with the phone people will use.
3. Confirm the page that opens is the one you promised.
4. Save the file you sent to the printer next to the short link, so a reprint uses the same code.