How to Make a Contact QR Code: Writing vCard and MECARD for Business Cards

A contact QR code is really “text in a set format”

A QR code can only carry a string of text. The app that scans it looks at the start of the string, decides “this is in a contact format”, and shows the add-contact screen. In other words, if you build the text in the right format and turn it into a QR code, you can make a contact QR without any dedicated service.

Whichever you choose, the step of “turning text into a QR code” is the same. The only differences are the content and length of the string you put in.

How to write a vCard

A vCard has one field per line, separated by line breaks. At minimum, a begin line, a version, a name and an end line are enough for it to work.

Put together, it looks like this: BEGIN:VCARD / VERSION:3.0 / N:Yamada;Taro;;; / FN:Taro Yamada / ORG:Example Inc. / TITLE:Sales / TEL;TYPE=WORK,VOICE:+81-3-1234-5678 / EMAIL;TYPE=INTERNET,WORK:taro@example.com / URL:https://example.com / END:VCARD, with each part on its own line.

• Write phone numbers starting with the country code (for Japan, +81 followed by the number without its leading 0) so people abroad can call. 03-1234-5678 becomes +81-3-1234-5678.
• FN is the display name, so write it as it appears on the card. With N alone, some scanners may swap the order of family and given names.
• Japanese text can come out garbled on some devices and apps. For a card you will also give to people abroad, write in romaji, or include both the Japanese and romaji forms and test on real devices.

Steps to make one

1. 1

   Build the text

   Write the fields line by line in a text editor such as Notepad. Do not add extra blank lines or trailing spaces; they can stop it being recognised as the format, so it is treated as plain text.

2. 2

   Paste it into the QR code generator

   Paste it into the text/URL field with the line breaks intact. The QR code is generated as you type. If there is too much text to generate a code, an error appears; in that case, remove some fields.

3. 3

   Choose the size and colours

   You can set the size between 128 and 1024 pixels. For print, choose a larger value and scale it down in your layout software for cleaner edges. You can change the colours, but contact QR codes hold a lot of data and have little margin for error when scanning, so it is safest to stick with the basic dark-on-light colours.

4. 4

   Save as PNG

   The save button downloads it as a PNG image. The white band around the outside of the image is part of the code, so do not crop it away. Add more margin outside it if needed.

5. 5

   Test scanning on several devices

   This is the most important step. Try both iPhone and Android, ideally with both the camera app and a scanner app. Check that the add-contact screen appears, that the name and phone number go into the right fields, and that any Japanese text is not garbled.

6. 6

   Test again with the actual print

   A code that scans on screen may not scan once printed. Do a test print on the actual paper at the actual size and scan it then and there.

Amount of data and code density

The more characters you put into a QR code, the finer its modules (cells) become. Printed at the same size, fewer characters mean larger modules and easier scanning. Contact QR codes hold more data than URL-only codes, so the difference is clear.

• Including the address and notes makes the modules too fine at business card size, and the code becomes hard to scan.
• For a business card, it is realistic to limit it to about four fields: name, company, phone number and email address.
• A rule of thumb is that one side of the code should be about one-tenth of the scanning distance. For a card held in the hand, allow around 2 cm square.
• The quiet zone around the code works as part of it. Do not crop it tight for design reasons.
• Japanese text takes more data per character than Latin letters. If you cannot cut fields, simply writing in romaji makes the code lighter.

If you really cannot reduce the information, switch to putting only a URL in the QR code and showing the details on that page. The character count drops sharply, so the code becomes coarse and scans reliably even when printed small. If you make and share a profile card, you can hand over your name and accounts together on one card.

Where to draw the line on what to include

Anyone who scans a QR code can see its contents. It is not encrypted. There is no way to take it back once handed out, so decide before you include anything.

• Avoid putting a personal contact QR on flyers or posters distributed to the general public. You choose who gets a business card, but not who sees a poster.
• If your details may change with a job change or transfer, the URL approach lets you update them. What is embedded in already-printed cards cannot be changed later.
• For the recipient, nothing is saved automatically either; the add-contact screen appears and they confirm before saving. Think of it as saving them one step, and keep the contents to a minimum.

FAQ

Do I need a dedicated service to make a contact QR code?

No. You just build text in a set format such as vCard or MECARD and turn it into a QR code. The scanning device reads the format, decides it is a contact and shows the add-contact screen. Any tool that makes QR codes from text is enough.

Should I use vCard or MECARD?

vCard, which is used internationally, suits cards you also give to people abroad; MECARD suits keeping the text short and the code coarse. However, which formats are recognised as contacts varies with the device and app. Test by actually scanning on the devices you expect to be used before printing.

How big does a QR code on a business card need to be?

If the scanning distance for a card held in the hand is 20–30 cm, one-tenth of that, 2–3 cm square, is a guide. Contact QR codes hold a lot of data and have fine modules, so allow more room than for a URL-only code. Limiting the fields to roughly name, company, phone number and email makes even 2 cm square easy to scan.

Is it OK to include a name in Japanese?

It can come out garbled on some devices and apps. For use within Japan, test on real devices first; for a card you will also give to people abroad, romaji is the safe choice. Japanese also takes more data per character and makes the QR code's modules finer, which is another advantage of writing in romaji.