ShortFreeURL for Print & Packaging
Vector codes, print-safe checks, and a destination you can change years later.
Print is the one channel where a mistake is permanent — unless the URL on the page is a short link you control. Then the artwork is fixed and the destination is not, which is the whole reason to put a short link on packaging rather than a final URL.
Production-ready files
Codes export as SVG, EPS and PDF as well as PNG, so a designer or printer receives a vector that scales from a sachet to a billboard without softening. Sizing and quiet-zone guidance is included because the most common scan failure in print is a code crowded by other elements.
Bulk generation produces a ZIP of codes named to match your SKUs or batch references, which is how a catalogue or a packaging range gets handled without manual export.
- SVG, EPS, PDF and PNG output
- Quiet-zone and minimum-size guidance
- Bulk ZIP export with predictable file names
- Saved themes so every batch looks the same
Checks before it goes to press
The studio warns on low contrast, on inverted colour schemes that many camera apps handle poorly, and on a centre logo that covers more of the symbol than the error-correction level can tolerate. It adjusts error correction automatically when a logo is added.
The QR debugger decodes an existing image and reports its payload, version and error-correction level, which is the quickest way to diagnose a code supplied by an agency that scans inconsistently.
- Contrast and inversion warnings
- Automatic error-correction adjustment for logos
- A debugger for codes supplied by others
- Consistent margins across a range
A destination with a longer life than the print run
Packaging outlives campaigns. A code printed for a launch will still be scanned two years later, by which point the launch page is gone. Because the code encodes a short link, you repoint it at a product page, a support article or a recycling guide when the time comes.
Expiry with a fallback covers time-limited promotions printed on pack, sending late scans somewhere useful instead of to an error.
- Repoint printed codes at any time
- Expiry with a fallback destination
- Domain-level 404 recovery for mistyped codes
- Per-link permissions so printed links cannot be changed casually
Typed URLs, not just scans
Plenty of people read the URL rather than scanning it. A short link on your own domain with a readable slug is realistic to type from a package; a deep path with query parameters is not.
Printing both the code and the readable short URL is the practical answer, and both resolve to the same link with the same reporting.
- Readable slugs designed to be typed
- Your own domain rather than a generic shortener
- Same link and reporting whether scanned or typed
- Custom 404 destination for near-miss typing
Measuring physical placements
A separate link per pack size, per SKU, per region or per print run turns scans into a comparison. The click stream shows timing, device and coarse location, and automated traffic is separated so the numbers reflect people rather than scanners.
Conversion tracking joins a scan to a registration, a warranty claim or a purchase, which is the closest most physical products get to attribution.
- A link per SKU, pack size, region or print run
- Scan timing, device and coarse location
- Bot traffic reported separately
- Conversion tracking from a scan on pack
Working with designers and printers
Teams and folders separate brands and product lines, roles decide who can generate and who can change destinations, and per-link permissions protect anything already at press. Read-only access covers external design partners who need the files but not the controls.
The API generates codes at build time when artwork is produced programmatically, and CSV import brings across an existing catalogue of links.
- Roles and per-link permissions around printed assets
- Read-only access for external design partners
- API generation for programmatic artwork
- CSV and XLSX import for an existing catalogue
Questions
What format should we give the printer?
SVG, EPS or PDF. All three are vector and scale to any size without losing edge definition.
How small can a code be printed?
It depends on the data length, the error-correction level and the print process. The studio gives minimum-size guidance based on the code it generated, and shorter links produce simpler, more robust codes.
Can we change what a code on packaging opens?
Yes, at any time. That is the main reason to encode a short link rather than a final URL.
Can we stop someone repointing a code that is already at press?
Yes, with per-link permissions that restrict editing to a named group regardless of role.
Can we generate a code per SKU automatically?
Yes, in bulk from a spreadsheet or through the API, with file names matched to your references.
Send a vector code to press and keep control of where it goes.
Start Free — no credit card
The free plan includes 1,000 links, 6 custom domains and 50,000 tracked clicks a month, free forever. Choose a free subdomain from six shared domains. Paid plans start at $4 a month when you outgrow it, and you keep everything you have built.