Choosing QR Colors for a Printed Design
A colorful QR design has two jobs: look at home with your brand and remain readable by a camera. Separate the decorative card from the QR pattern so you can make the card expressive while keeping the code clear.
Use the palette around a clear code
Start with Ocean, Coral or Iris, then inspect both the QR modules and the surrounding card. Use a dark color for the pattern on white. A vivid background outside the QR can carry your brand without competing with the finder corners or data modules.
The app checks contrast as a basic safeguard; that number is not a scanner certification. Ink, paper, glare and camera exposure can change the result. Compare a real printed proof with the screen preview before ordering a batch.
Leave the border alone
The quiet zone is the blank space around the pattern. Standard QR symbols need at least four modules of spacing. Do not crop it, cover it with a border or let a photo spill into it. Keep the corner finder patterns intact when placing the artwork in another editor.
Add a logo deliberately
Upload PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 5 MB in Design. The app resizes large images and embeds a small center logo. A compact, simple image is easier to recognize at card size. More error correction can help tolerate damage, but does not make every logo or color choice safe.
Download and scan the code with and without the logo if recognition fails. Try square finder eyes and a solid dark module color to isolate the problem. Uploaded photos remain raster images inside an SVG; they do not become vectors.