Business Card QR Code
A business card has almost no room to spare — get the code's size and quiet zone right and it still scans cleanly the moment someone holds it up to their phone.
02 / Content
Whose details should it carry?
03 / Style
04 / Preview
Exactly what downloads
See it on
Previews only — the card, tent, poster and sticker are not in the download. You get the code.
Choosing what it does
A vCard-based code on a business card saves your name, number and email directly into a contact’s phone the moment they tap confirm — no signal needed, no website to load, nothing beyond what’s printed on the card itself. That’s the right choice when the goal is simply “get my details saved.” A link to a portfolio, LinkedIn or personal site instead suits a card meant to invite a longer look, at the cost of needing a connection to work.
The size that survives printing
Business cards leave little room to work with, and the mistake most people make is shrinking the code to fit a tight corner of the layout. Below roughly 2cm square, a standard printer’s dot gain starts blurring individual modules together, and a camera held at the 15-20cm most people naturally use to scan a handheld card struggles to focus cleanly, especially under dim indoor lighting. Keep it at 2cm or a touch larger even if that means trimming something else from the design.
Respect the quiet zone
The plain border around a QR code isn’t wasted space — it’s how a scanner’s software finds the edges of the pattern in the first place. The standard calls for a quiet zone of four modules on every side — our own generator uses that same default — and business card layouts often crowd a logo, a tagline or a decorative line well inside that margin to save room, which is the top reason an otherwise well-printed code on a card fails silently. Leave the full four-module margin clear, with nothing else printed inside it.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Should a business card QR code save a vCard or link to a page?
- A vCard is usually right if the goal is getting your contact details into someone's phone with one tap — no website needed, and it works even without signal. A link to a portfolio or LinkedIn page suits a card meant to start a longer look at your work rather than just exchange details.
- How small can the code go on a card?
- Around 2cm square is the practical floor for a business-card-sized code printed at normal quality, small enough to fit a corner without dominating the layout but still large enough for a phone camera to focus on comfortably from 15-20cm, the distance most people naturally hold a card up to scan it.
- Why does the empty space around the code matter so much on a card?
- That blank border, called the quiet zone, tells a scanner where the code's pattern starts and stops. The standard requires four modules of clear space on every side. On a business card, where every millimetre feels precious, cropping that margin tight or printing another element inside it frequently makes an otherwise intact code fail to scan.
Other QR code types
QR code guides
Printing, sizing, or troubleshooting a code? Read our QR code guides and troubleshooting articles.