Guide · Updated 4 September 2026 · 4 min read
How big does a QR code need to be on a business card?
The size a QR code needs depends on how much it carries. Each square module has to print at least 0.35 mm across, so a short web address fits in about 13 to 16 mm square while a contact card (vCard) needs 20 to 28 mm. Always dark modules on a light background, with a clear margin of 4 modules around the code and nothing printed underneath it.
Why there is no single answer
A QR code is a grid of square modules, and the more text it carries, the more modules it needs across. A printed code scans when every module is big enough to print as a crisp square, so the minimum size is the module count times the smallest module a press can hold. That floor is 0.35 mm per module, and the count is set by the payload.
| What the code carries | Characters | Modules across | Minimum size |
|---|---|---|---|
| A short web address | 23 | 29 | 12.9 mm |
| A long web address with a booking path | 60 | 37 | 15.7 mm |
| A vCard with name and phone | 92 | 49 | 19.9 mm |
| A vCard with name, company, phone, email and website | 193 | 65 | 25.5 mm |
| The same with a postal address | 246 | 73 | 28.3 mm |
The minimum size includes the quiet zone: 4 modules of clear space on every side, which the scanner needs to find the edges of the code. The figures are for error correction level Q, which lets a code survive a scuff or a fingerprint across up to a quarter of its area. Printing at the minimum works; printing a little larger is kinder to older phones.
Four rules that decide whether it scans
- Dark modules on a light field, always. Inverted codes, light squares on a dark background, are outside the QR standard and some phone cameras refuse them outright. Tint the code to the card's palette if you like, but keep the modules the dark colour.
- Nothing underneath it. The code sits on its own plate. A phone number half hidden under the corner of a QR code is a card that has lost its phone number, and it is the most common defect on real cards because each element looked fine on its own.
- Keep it 4 mm inside the trim. A code is the one element the cut is unforgiving with: clip a corner, lose a finder pattern, and it stops scanning altogether rather than looking slightly wrong.
- Keep the payload short. Every character adds modules and every module makes the code bigger or the squares smaller. A vCard should carry a name, a number, an email and a web address, not a paragraph.
Where it goes
The back of the card, usually. At 20 to 28 mm square a vCard code takes a third of the width of a UK card, and the front has other work to do. The back can be designed around it: a band across one edge, a plate tucked into a corner, or the code printed straight onto light stock with a short label beside it saying what happens when it is scanned.
How Cardsetting checks this
The engine draws the code itself as vector art, sized from the payload so every module clears 0.35 mm, and then decodes it from the rendered pixels before the card can be shown or exported. A code that does not decode from the render, or that sits closer than 4 mm to the trim, is an error and the card is not shown. Payloads are capped at 700 characters.
Questions people also ask
- What is the smallest QR code that will scan when printed?
- Around 12.9 mm square for the shortest possible web address, including the quiet zone, with each module at 0.35 mm. Anything smaller relies on the press holding detail it usually cannot.
- Can a QR code be printed in colour?
- Yes, as long as the modules are clearly darker than the background. A deep green code on cream scans; a yellow code on white does not. Keep the contrast high and never reverse it to light on dark.
- Should the QR code be on the front or the back?
- The back. The front carries the name and the way to reach you; the back has the space to give a code its own plate and a label that says what it does.