Where to place a QR code
SmartQRCode editorial · Updated October 2026
Where to place a QR code is decided by the pause in the visit, then by millimetres for that standing distance. Chest-to-head on roll-ups, receipt pause at paying, and shelf-edge arm length beat a pretty footer. Confirm with a test scan from the real mark on the floor, not from a studio photograph of the graphic.
Where to place a QR code relative to the pause in the visit
People scan when their hands are free and the next action is obvious. After sitting, before ordering, is the menu pause. Paying is the Google review pause. Walking an aisle is a roll-up pause only if the symbol is large and high enough.
A shopfront review code meets people who have not decided the visit was worth rating. A footer code on a 2 m stand meets knees. Both "placements" fail for reasons that look like generator bugs.
A Canva one-off is enough for a single table card that will never be counted. Host a website hop when the URL will move or you need scans (scans, not people).
Wi-Fi on the same tent as a menu mixes a static payload with an editable one. The camera still returns one symbol if both are in frame.
Match millimetres to the real standing distance
- Stand where a guest will stand. Mark the floor.
- Measure that distance. Table tents are about 30 cm. Shelf-edge is arm length. Roll-ups are two to four metres. Windows are pavement. Wraps are a neighbouring lane.
- Size the symbol for that distance. The 2 cm working rule is a table-tent floor, not a billboard floor. A 2 cm code on a 6 m board is invisible from the road.
- Put the code at chest-to-head height on a stand, not in the footer of the graphic.
- Keep the four-module quiet zone inside the trim. Round corners on cards steal it.
- Add one line of type that names the destination (menu, review, map). Empty squares get ignored.
- Print a proof on the real stock and scan from the floor mark with iOS Camera and Android Camera.
- If you need two jobs, print two codes and separate them in space.
If step 7 only works when you step in, the placement is lying about distance. Reprint larger or move the furniture.
Chest height on roll-ups versus footer graphics
Trade-stand art often parks the code next to the URL in 8 pt at the bottom. Aisle walkers never frame it. D20 is not enough at two metres.
Lift the symbol into the upper third. Surround it with a light patch if the graphic is dark. Test-scan while walking, then while stopped. Motion blur is a placement problem as much as a file problem.
Hosted hops can change the booth offer without reprinting the stand. They cannot lift a footer into the camera's field of view.
Receipts, tents, and shelf-edge each have a different pause
Table tents: condiments and wipe-down. Matte, 2 cm or more, after sitting. Pairing Wi-Fi on the same tent is a mixed-class choice.
Receipts: thermal fade and low contrast. Darkest print setting, larger than the table-tent floor, after paying. Review types belong here more often than on the shopfront.
Shelf-edge: overhead lighting and a basket in the other hand. Size can sit near 2 cm. Gloss flares. The scanner is already holding a phone.
Hotels: in-room Wi-Fi is static; rotating the passphrase reprints the desk card. Do not promise a dashboard edit.
Failure modes of a pretty placement that nobody scans
Code behind a condiment. Code on the floor-facing side of a totem. Code on a vehicle rear window sized for a flyer. Code on a lanyard that flexes. Two codes in one photo. A review code on the door.
Each of those will show up as a low scan count on a hosted code, or as "broken" on a static one. Test-scan in costume: wet table, receipt in a wallet, aisle shuffle.
A 301 from another vendor can also make a well-placed code open the wrong page. That is not placement; check the hop.
How to mark the floor so millimetres match the furniture
Tape a mark where a guest's toes will be. Photograph the stand from that mark with a phone. If the code is a grey smudge in that photo, it is too small or too low, regardless of the layout PDF. Chest-to-head on roll-ups exists because that photo test keeps failing on footer placements.
Shelf-edge arm length is a different mark: the shopper is already holding a basket. You can sit near 2 cm if overhead lights do not flare. Test with a basket in the other hand. If the person needs two hands to scan, the shelf talker will lose.
Receipt pause at paying means the code is on the back of the receipt or in the bill folder, not on the shopfront vinyl you already printed for the menu. Two pauses, two placements, often two types. Menu hop on the table. Review hop on the bill.
A spoken URL still wins when the scanner is in a car you will not size for. Do not spend the print budget on a wrap nobody can resolve from the next lane.
Lanyards and badges flex. Wristbands are worse. Prefer a badge insert or a posted A4 at the door for schools and events. Test-scan the badge after an hour of wear. If modules have cracked at a fold, the placement was the body, not the wall. Reprint on a stiffer insert and move the scan to a posted sheet for overflow.
Real-estate boards are street distance, weather, and a listing that will change. A static "this house" PDF in the modules is wrong the day the price drops. Host the hop, size for pavement, and test-scan from the kerb. Do not use a flyer millimetre on a board meant to be read from a car.
Automotive rear-window and yard-sign first reads happen from a car. Treat those as distance jobs, not flyer jobs. A 2 cm code on a rear window is a decoration. Size in tens of centimetres if you expect a neighbouring lane to scan. Then test from that lane. If you cannot safely stand there, you cannot expect a driver to scan, and a spoken URL on the sign is the better tool. Hosted hops still help when the listing changes. They do not shrink a road to arm length.
Hotels compete with TV cards and a QR the TV firmware already shows. If you add a third code on the desk, say what it does in type, and keep Wi-Fi static on its own card. Test-scan from the pillow, which is where guests actually aim a phone at 11 p.m., not from the doorway photo used in the mood board.
When a verbal URL beats any printed symbol
Drivers, rain, and distances you will not fund in millimetres. Large type plus a short spoken domain is kinder than an unread wrap. A free static file still needs size; it does not excuse a 15 mm icon on a billboard.
If you print anyway, print hosted so you can retarget, size for the closest a scanner will stand, and scan from that spot before you buy the media.
Questions this raises
Menu hops belong on the table after sitting. Review hops belong on the receipt after paying. Wi-Fi, if you print it, is a static join on a separate card.
Chest-to-head height. Aisle distance is two to four metres. A footer graphic at 2 cm is invisible from the aisle.
Guests at the door have not had the visit yet. The review pause is paying. Move the review type to the bill.
When the scanner is in a car, in rain, or at a distance you will not size for. A billboard code nobody can resolve is worse than large type.
They can physically. The camera typically returns one symbol. Separate them or accept wrong-destination reports.
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