How to Add a Logo to a QR Code

QR codes have built-in error correction. The data is encoded with extra parity bytes, so the decoder can rebuild missing modules on the fly. There are four levels: L (7%), M (15%), Q (25%), and H (30%) damage recoverable. When you drop a logo into the center of a QR, you're effectively covering a percentage of the modules. As long as the covered area stays inside the error-correction budget, the decoder reconstructs whatever's hidden and the code scans like normal. Place it right and scan reliability is indistinguishable from an unbranded code.

Keep the logo to no more than 25% of the QR's total area. At error correction level H, that leaves a 5% safety margin. Logos bigger than 30% start to break the decoder reliably. A concrete example: if your QR is 200×200 pixels, the logo should fit inside a 100×100 pixel area in the center (which is 25% of total). A circular logo that fits inside that square is also fine.

Always in the center of the data area. Never: • Over the three large corner squares (finder patterns) — these are critical for the scanner to detect the code and figure out orientation. Cover one and the code is gone. • On the timing patterns (the alternating black-and-white stripes along the edges between finder patterns). These give the scanner a measurement reference. • Inside the smaller alignment patterns scattered through the data area. These help the decoder correct for distortion. The center of the code is mostly data — error correction handles center occlusion fine. The edges are structural — and error correction cannot save them.

A logo on a QR code needs to be visually obvious — both for branding reasons and so the scanner sees a clean boundary between "logo" and "data." A few practical rules: • Use solid colors, not gradients. The decoder treats anything inside the logo area as obscured; a clean white background or a solid brand-colored block reads cleanly. • Add a small white padding (1-2 modules) around the logo. A logo flush against module edges can confuse the decoder's edge detection. • Avoid translucent logos. The decoder may try to interpret semi-visible modules behind the logo as actual data, which causes more issues than just fully covering them.

Always scan the QR with at least two different phones (one iOS, one Android) before sending to print. Specifically test: • At the actual print size — resize the image to the print dimensions, then scan from a phone • In your actual lighting — retail fluorescents, outdoor sun, office lights, whatever the real scanning conditions will be • At the realistic scanning distance — not just close-range • In different orientations — the code should scan from any angle, not just dead-on If any test fails: increase error correction, then shrink the logo, then improve contrast — in that order.