snipvio.

Designing QR codes

Patterns, colours, gradients, frames, logos, and mosaic QR codes that stay scannable.

2 min read

Every Snipvio link comes with a QR code, free. The QR design studio at Dashboard → QR Codes turns that into something you would actually put on packaging.

Why QR codes point at short links

A Snipvio QR encodes your short link, not the destination directly. That gives you two things a plain QR generator cannot:

  • Scans are tracked. You see how many people scanned the poster, separately from people who clicked the link online.
  • The destination stays editable. Reprinting a menu because a URL changed is expensive. With Snipvio you change the destination and the printed code keeps working.

Patterns

Three module styles, available on every plan:

  • Classic: sharp squares, the most universally scannable
  • Rounded: softened corners, slightly friendlier
  • Dots: circular modules, the most distinctive

Whichever you choose, the three large corner squares (the "finder patterns") stay solid. Those are what a camera locks onto first, and breaking them into decorative shapes is the single most common reason a styled QR code fails to scan.

Colours

Eight preset colours plus a custom picker for any hex value.

Keep contrast high. A dark code on a white background scans from further away and in worse light than a mid-tone one. If you are printing small, stay close to black.

Gradients (Premium)

Turn on + Gradient to fade the code between two colours diagonally. The corner eyes stay solid in your primary colour so scanning is unaffected.

Frames (Premium)

  • Border draws a rounded outline around the code
  • Scan me adds a filled label bar underneath

The label text is editable up to 24 characters. "SCAN FOR MENU", "GET 10% OFF", and "VIEW THE LOOKBOOK" all convert better than a bare code, because they tell people why they should bother.

Logos (Premium)

Upload a PNG, JPG, SVG, or WebP under 1 MB and choose how it is applied:

  • Center logo places your mark in the middle of the code
  • Mosaic samples your image across every module, so the picture ghosts through the code itself

For center logos, Snipvio automatically generates the code at the highest error-correction level and reserves a clear area, so the code still reads with the middle covered.

For mosaic codes, every sampled colour is clamped to a maximum brightness. Scanners need dark modules to stay dark, so your image's hues survive but its highlights are darkened.

Your image never reaches our servers. It is composited into the SVG inside your browser. That means no upload storage and nothing to leak.

Downloads

  • SVG: vector, infinitely scalable, correct for print
  • PNG: 1024px raster, correct for slide decks and social

Test before you print

Styled QR codes trade a little scanning margin for looks. Dots plus a logo plus a frame is the most aggressive combination. Before committing to a print run, scan the downloaded file with two or three real phones in the lighting where it will actually be used.

Try it yourself

Free plan, no credit card required.

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