A pre-print testing checklist for QR codes

Test the destination first, not the code

Open the destination URL directly in a browser. Confirm it loads, is the right page, is mobile-friendly, and is not behind a login. A perfectly readable code pointing at a page that requires an account is still a failed campaign, and this is the single most common problem found late.

Confirm it is a dynamic code

Check that the encoded content is your short link rather than the final destination. Decode the image with any reader that shows the raw content. If the raw content is a long campaign URL, the code is static, the destination can never be changed, and you should regenerate it before anything is printed.

Print at final size on final material

A code tested on a screen is not tested. Print it at the exact dimensions and on the same stock — matte, gloss, corrugated, fabric all behave differently. Cheap proofs on office paper miss ink spread on absorbent materials, which closes the gaps between modules.

Scan from the real distance, in real light

Stand where the reader will stand. Test in bright sun and in a dim room. Test at an angle of thirty degrees or so, because nobody photographs a wall square-on. Test with the phone slightly moving, as a person holding it will.

Use several phones, including an old one

Camera quality and decoder implementations vary. A code that scans instantly on a current flagship and takes six seconds on a three-year-old mid-range phone will fail in the field, because people give up in about two seconds. Keep an old device in the office specifically for this.

Check the quiet zone and the surrounding layout

Confirm at least four modules of blank margin survived the layout process. Check that no fold, seam, die-cut or spine crosses the code, and that on packaging the code will not sit around a curve or under a shrink-wrap seam.

Verify tracking works before the run

Scan the printed proof and confirm the click appears in your analytics with the expected campaign attribution. Then reset your expectations for the report: those test scans are in the data, so note the count and the time so you can subtract them later.

Record what you tested

A short note in the campaign folder listing size, material, devices, distances and the date. When someone asks in six months why a code is not working, knowing what was verified before printing narrows the search immediately to what changed afterwards.