How to Put a QR Code on a Business Card That Saves Your Contact

Make a contact QR codeDownload the business card QR checklist and layout guide (PDF)

Two kinds of business card code

A contact-card code contains your details in the vCard format, the standard most phones use to exchange contacts. When someone scans it, their phone shows your name, number and email and offers to save them. Nothing is loaded from the internet, so it works anywhere, and nobody's typing errors end up in their address book.

A link code contains a web address: your website, a booking page, a portfolio, or a hosted "digital business card" page. It is smaller and the page behind it can change, but it needs a connection, and saving your details takes another tap or two on the page.

Both are free to make with the free QR code generator, and neither expires. If your details will stay the same for the life of the cards, a contact-card code does the job best. If you want people to book a call, see your work, or always get current details, use a link. Our static vs dynamic guide covers what to do when a link might change.

What goes inside a contact-card code

The generator writes a vCard 3.0, the version defined in RFC 2426, which says a vCard must contain a formatted name (FN), a structured name (N) and the version. The generator fills those from your first and last name, then adds any of company, job title, phone, email, website and address you enter. A later version, vCard 4.0 (RFC 6350), exists, but 3.0 is the one phones have read the longest.

Every field makes the code bigger. Using the same QR library the generator uses, a contact card with name, company, title, mobile, email, website and a full street address came out 61 modules wide at the default error correction, and 81 with a logo. Dropping the address and title brought it down to 53. A short web address is 25 modules. On a business card, where space is tight, that difference decides whether the code scans.

So include what people will use. Name, company, mobile, email and website are usually enough. A street address is worth including only if people visit you; a job title only if it helps them remember who you are.

Make it and put it on the card, step by step

1. Choose contact card or link

Decide using the comparison above. The rest of the steps are for a contact card; a link code is the same, with the web address instead of the fields.

2. Fill in only the useful fields

In the generator, choose Contact card. Type your name exactly as you want it saved, and give the phone number with its country code (+1 for the US) so it works for anyone, anywhere.

3. Make and download the code

Keep the code dark on a light background. A logo is possible, but on a business card it makes the code larger again, so skip it unless the card has room. Download the SVG for the printer or design tool; it stays sharp at any size.

4. Place it on the card

Print it at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide including the white border, and more for a full contact card: a 61-module code plus its border at 0.5 mm per module is about 3.5 cm. The back of the card is usually the best place, because it leaves the code a plain area of its own. Put a few words next to it saying what it does, such as "Scan to save my contact", and keep it at least 3 mm away from the trimmed edge.

5. Test saving the contact

Ask the printer for a proof, or print one at actual size. Scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone and open the contact before saving: is the mobile number in the phone field, the email in the email field, the company where it should be? Fix anything odd before you order the box.

What about digital business card apps?

Hosted digital business cards are a link code with a page behind it: your photo, buttons for phone and email, social links and a "save contact" button. They look good and can be updated, and some count views. The trade-offs are the ones that come with any hosted page: the card needs an account, sometimes a subscription, and it stops working if the service does.

A vCard code needs none of that. It is less flashy, but the result is the same thing most people want from a business card, your details in their phone, with one fewer tap and no internet needed. A sensible middle path is a contact-card code on the card and a contact page on your own website, linked from your email signature, which you can update whenever you like.

Common mistakes on business card codes

• The code is the only way to reach you. Print your name, number and email as text too. Some people will never scan.
• Too many fields in a small code. Trim the fields, or switch to a link code.
• A glossy or textured finish over the code. Spot gloss and heavy textures confuse cameras. Keep that area matt.
• Old details on new cards. If your number changes, the code must be remade; it holds the old one forever.

If you hand out cards at events and want to know which ones led anywhere, a link code is the only kind that can tell you. Fynl's paid plans include QR codes that count every scan and can be re-pointed later, and a contact who fills in a form after scanning lands in the same contact list. For sizing in other places, see our QR code size guide, and if a printed card will not scan, the troubleshooting guide.

The QR code generator is one of several no-sign-up tools on our free tools page, including a UTM builder for tagging the links you put in codes and a Google review link generator.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• IETF RFC 2426 — vCard MIME Directory Profile (vCard 3.0)
• IETF RFC 6350 — vCard Format Specification (vCard 4.0)
• ZXing project wiki — Barcode contents (contact formats)