How to use it

Put in the address. A bare domain like example.com is fine, and https gets added for you. Anything that is not an http or https address is refused rather than quietly encoded.
Read back what it holds. The panel shows the exact string inside the pattern, the module count, and how wide the finished code is at 0.5mm modules. If the address was tidied up on the way in, you can see it.
Download, then scan your own file. Open it on your phone before it goes anywhere near a printer. Test the printed proof too, on cheap paper, at the size it will actually be.

What static means, and what it costs you

The address sits in the pattern itself. Nothing of ours stands between the phone and your page, which is why this is free and why there is no service here for anybody to switch off or put behind a paywall next year. This tool does not record scans.

Once it is printed, the address is fixed. Changing it means new artwork and another print run. So point a static code at something that will stay put. Your own domain is a reasonable bet. A booking system you might swap next year is not.

And the code works only while the page answers. The printed pattern cannot expire, but whoever controls the destination can move it, replace it or take it down. If you are printing thousands of anything, that is the bit to think hardest about.

When you want a dynamic code instead

If the destination might move, the code needs to point at an address you can re-aim afterwards. That is the paid side of what we do: the printed pattern stays exactly as it is, and you change where it goes. One code is free and plans start at £5 a month including VAT.

Cancelling a subscription moves you to Free at the end of the paid period. Existing active codes keep resolving, while Free limits and features apply. Closing or suspending the account, or archiving a code, stops its dynamic redirects.

Questions

Is there a catch?

No. There is no account to make and no limit on how many you download.

Will the code stop working one day?

There is no subscription behind a static code and no redirect in the middle, so nothing here expires and nothing of ours can be switched off. What it does depend on is the page it points at. Whoever controls that page can move it, change it, block it or take it down, and a printed pattern cannot be told. More on what actually expires.

Which file should I send to a printer?

The SVG, if their workflow takes one. It is vector, so the same file is sharp on a business card and on a pull-up banner. The PNG here is about 1,200 pixels wide; how large that can print depends on the resolution the job needs, so check a printed proof before you settle on a size. The difference in more detail.

Can I change where it points after it is printed?

No. That is the one thing a static code cannot do, and it is worth deciding before the print run rather than after. What your options are if it has already happened.

How small can I print it?

About 25mm across is a sensible start for something read at arm’s length. The module count matters as much as the width, which is why the panel above tells you both. Sizes by scanning distance.

Can I add a logo or my own colours?

Not here. This makes a plain black code on white, which is the version a phone camera has the least trouble with. Logos and colours sit on the paid plans, where a code is checked for scan readability before it can be downloaded.