QR code table tents at 30 cm
SmartQRCode editorial · Updated October 2026
QR code table tents live at seated distance, under lamps, next to another tent, and in the path of ketchup. Print at least 2 cm on a matte face. Keep four modules of air. Do not photograph a tent and reprint that photo. Host the menu URL if prices will move.
QR code table tents that survive wipe-down and ketchup
The pause is after sitting, before ordering. The code has to survive condiment scuff, wipe-down laminate, and a 30 cm phone. You are about to spec that object. This is the wrong job for a pavement poster and the wrong job for a one-off birthday static playlist: Canva is enough.
Restaurant menus belong on a hosted menu or menu type so tonight's 86-list does not reprint the tent. Use dynamic if you want a redirect you can still aim. Scan totals exist on those hosted types, not on Wi-Fi.
A brunch place that turns tables fast needs a code that locks in under two seconds. That is contrast and size, not a new type. A tasting-menu room that wants guests to linger can tolerate a slightly smaller mark if the lighting is kind, but 2 cm is still the floor. Do not go to 12 mm to fit a wine pairing list beside it. Cut the pairing list or print a second face.
Outdoor terrace tents blow over and pick up pollen. Weight the stand. Pollen is yellow dirt in the alleys. Wipe, or move to a printed insert you can replace without reprinting the plastic.
Build a tent that scans from a seated 30 cm
- Design for seated 30 cm tent distance. Start at 2 cm across the dark modules, quiet zone inside the fold.
- Export SVG or 300 dpi PDF at that size. Do not flatten a photograph of last year's tent into this year's file.
- Specify matte on the symbol. Gloss is how downlighters win.
- Keep wipe-down laminate from clouding into a smear. If servers scrub hard, plan a reprint cycle of the face, not a tougher invert.
- Place one code per camera-facing panel. Two tents one frame is a support ticket waiting to happen.
- If you add a logo, grow the square. Condiment scuff plus a fat logo is two damages.
- Print, fold, sauce a corner on purpose, wipe, and scan. Then approve the run.
Do not capture the on-screen preview. It encodes /qr-preview.
How close will a diner hold the phone
About 30 cm if the tent sits in the middle of the table. If you hide the code on the far side of a wide four-top, the distance grows and 2 cm fails. Duplicate the symbol on both faces of a printed tent so nobody twists the card into a glare angle.
Low light in a dining room fails more often than the wrong app. Raise contrast, not decoration.
Why two tents confuse the camera
Multiple codes in one camera frame: the reader typically returns one, not an average. A menu tent beside a review tent beside a Wi-Fi tent is how "it opens the wrong thing" gets blamed on the generator. Separate them in space or in time (review codes often belong on the receipt, after the meal).
Should wifi live on the same tent as the menu
A hosted menu stays editable. Wi-Fi stores the passphrase in the modules. Changing the network means printing a new symbol. Guests will also treat a Wi-Fi code like a password on a whiteboard. If you still want both, use two clearly captioned marks and accept two lifecycles.
Flyers and labels in the same restaurant should not share one millimetre spec. Tents are the close read.
Tent failures after a dinner service
Gloss glare. Ketchup in a finder. Two codes in view. A screenshot file. A paused host. A Wi-Fi password that rotated while the tents stayed. A photo of the tent reused on social as if it were a print master.
Take the folded sample into the dining room at service hour. Scan from a seated hip, not from a standing designer. If the room uses candles or warm spots, you will see glare the studio never showed. Rotate the tent a few degrees; if the scan dies, the laminate is too glossy or the code is too small for that angle.
Condiment tests are not a joke. A drop of oil in a light module is a dark module. Wipe-down chemicals can haze a cheap laminate into a fog. If servers use the same cloth on tables and tents, plan a face reprint more often than the plastic stand.
A breakfast tent that also carries a review code should still keep one symbol per camera face. Reviews belong after the meal more often than on the shopfront, but if marketing insists, put the review on the receipt and the menu on the tent. Receipt thermal stock is a different substrate: larger mark, darkest print, no gloss. Do not copy the tent millimetre onto the receipt.
Kids menus and crayons: the tent will be coloured in. H correction helps. A plastic sleeve over a paper insert lets you swap the insert when the drawing wins. If you use a chalkboard tent, the grid is not chalk. Print a card and clip it. Chalk dust in alleys is dirt with a romantic name.
When a paper insert in a plastic stand is enough
A weekly photocopied insert in a reusable plastic holder is a better tool than a laminated hosted campaign if the URL is a static lunch PDF you replace by hand. Canva plus a copier is honest. SmartQRCode has no unpaid plan. Use $29 when the menu lives online and the tent should outlast the prices.
Scan the sauced, wiped tent. The clean PDF is not the guest experience. If you change the menu at 4pm for dinner, confirm the hosted destination flipped before service, not after the first complaint. A paused code at Saturday lunch is a dashboard problem wearing a ketchup disguise.
Questions this raises
About 30 cm, the seated 30 cm tent distance. 2 cm across the symbol is the working floor if the face is matte and un-scuffed.
The reader typically returns one code in the frame. Two tents one frame looks like a wrong destination. Separate them or stagger heights.
Careful. A menu can be a hosted page you still edit. Wi-Fi is static: not editable, not trackable. Pairing them mixes two lifetimes on one card.
Matte. Gloss under a downlighter is why a desk scan fails at dinner. Wipe-down laminate still needs to stay matte on the symbol.
Yes if the printed modules encode a SmartQRCode menu or website URL. No if you encoded a static PDF path or a printed Wi-Fi payload.
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