Generate QR codes with your logo in the center: error-correction aware, print-ready PNG download, everything in your browser.
A plain QR code is anonymous — identical black squares whether it points to your menu or a phishing page. Embedding your logo in the center does two things at once: it signals to scanners whose code this is (trust, which measurably improves scan rates on posters and packaging), and it makes your codes visually yours in a brand deck or storefront. The technique is safe when done correctly because QR codes carry redundant data: error correction lets a covered region be reconstructed at scan time, the same way a scratched disc still plays.
| Level | Damage tolerated | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| L | ~7% | Dense data, clean printing, no logo |
| M | ~15% | Standard printing, small or no logo |
| Q | ~25% | Logo up to ~15% of code area |
| H | ~30% | Logo center, rough surfaces, outdoor use |
The universal rule for logos: never cover more than about 30% of the code's area (with level H), and keep the logo centered so the three finder squares in the corners stay fully visible — scanners lock onto those first.
The code is rendered in your browser to a canvas at your chosen size, then your logo is composited into the center with a small white pad behind it for contrast. Nothing is uploaded; the PNG downloads straight from the canvas. If you skip the logo you get a standard high-correction code, which is also the right choice for print runs on rough materials.
For print, generate at least 512px and let the layout scale down — never upscale a small code. Keep a quiet zone (blank margin) around the code equal to about four modules; designers who crowd the code with background art are the most common cause of unscannable posters. Dark modules on light background scan most reliably; inverting colors works on some scanners and fails on others, so test before committing a print run. And always test-scan the final printed piece with two different phones before ordering a thousand stickers.
A printed logo QR is fixed forever: change the destination and every printed copy is wrong. The professional pattern is printing a stable code that resolves through a service you control, so the target can change, and each physical object can carry its own identity — warranty pages, reorder links, usage history. Objexi builds that object-intelligence layer for businesses; if your QR program has outgrown static codes, that is the upgrade path.
Branded codes succeed or fail on their surroundings. The quiet zone — clear space around the code — should be at least four modules wide and must stay genuinely empty: no borders, no background gradients fading in, no typography crowding the edge. Colors can depart from pure black-on-white as long as contrast stays strong; a deep brand navy on off-white scans reliably, while mid-grey on beige will frustrate phones in dim light. Rounded module styles look friendlier but reduce the contrast gradient at module edges — test with two phones before a print run, especially older devices, whose decoders are less forgiving than current flagships.
The logo itself should be simple at small sizes: a wordmark or single glyph, not a detailed illustration. At 20% of a 512px code, fine detail becomes mush that neither reads visually nor helps decoding. A white pad behind the logo keeps it legible over the code's modules and gives the eye a clean anchor.
The professional habit is a test loop: generate, scan with two different phones in the lighting conditions of final placement, then print one sample before the full run. Outdoor placements deserve a glare test at the actual angle of sun exposure. Marketing teams that skip the loop occasionally discover, after a campaign ships, that their beautifully designed code scans on the designer's phone and nothing else — an expensive embarrassment that five minutes of testing prevents. Keep the generating parameters (size, EC level, logo file) on record so reprints match exactly.
The recurring failures are predictable. A logo that is too large relative to the code exhausts error correction — shrink it toward 20% of code width and raise the EC level. Codes that scan on screen but not in print usually went to press under 2cm printed size or lost their quiet zone to layout bleed — fix the physical size and clear the margin. Inverted colors that fail on some phones — return to dark-on-light. A busy background behind a semi-transparent code — put the code on a solid plate. Every one of these is a five-minute fix at generation time and a costly reprint after the fact, which is the entire argument for the test loop described above.
The settings where logo codes measurably outperform plain ones share a trait: the viewer is choosing whether to engage. Business cards, event badges, poster campaigns, packaging — each is a small trust decision made in seconds, and a code carrying the brand mark reads as intentional and official where a bare code reads as generic. Internal asset tags and WiFi sharing, by contrast, gain nothing from branding; generate them plain and simple. Matching the effort to the audience is the last piece of doing this well.