Your logo, in the middle — still scannable

A plain QR code works. A QR code with your logo works and gets recognized — on packaging, on a business card, on a poster across the room. The catch is real, though: the logo sits on top of the pattern, and the pattern is what the phone reads. Get the balance wrong and the code stops scanning. Get it right and nobody notices the engineering — they just see your brand.

The three rules

1. Square PNG with transparency. A square logo with a transparent background sits cleanest in the middle. A rectangular logo or a white-boxed logo wastes space and fights the pattern.
2. Keep it under ~30% of the code area. That is the rule of thumb the generator itself uses: small enough that the remaining pattern still carries the data, big enough to read at a glance.
3. Let error correction do its job. QR codes are built to survive damage — up to 30% of the pattern can be missing and the code still reads. When you add a logo, error correction is raised automatically so the covered middle doesn't matter.

Step by step

Make the code first — any type works with a logo: a link, a vCard, a WiFi network. Then upload the logo in the studio's logo step, size it to the middle, and download. PNG up to 2048 px for print, or SVG if you need it infinitely scalable. The logo step works with every code type, and the same logo can be applied across a whole batch.

Four mistakes that break scans

• Logo too big. Past ~30% of the area, even error correction can't rebuild the missing data. If the logo must be big, use a shorter link — less data means a roomier pattern.
• Low-contrast logo. A pale logo on a light code, or a logo that blends into the modules, confuses cameras. Dark logo, light background, strong contrast — same rule as the code itself.
• Busy background behind the code. A logo code on a photo or a pattern is two fights at once. Give the code a clean, light patch to sit on, with its quiet margin clear.
• Stretching the code. Resizing non-proportionally distorts the grid. Scale evenly so the squares stay square.

The test that proves it

Before you print a run, scan the code with two phones — one iPhone, one Android — and scan the print, not just the screen. If both read on the first try, ship it. If either hesitates, shrink the logo a notch or raise the contrast and test again. Thirty seconds here saves a reprint.

Try it: Make a QR code with your logo — free, no sign-up for static codes, no watermark.