Event QR Code Generator: Tickets, Check-in and What Static Codes Can Do

By the end of this article you will know which parts of an event a free static QR code handles well (registration links, the agenda, venue WiFi, speaker contacts, feedback forms, sponsor links) and which part it cannot handle at all (validating tickets and checking people in). You will also have print sizes for each placement, from a lanyard badge to a hall banner, and a test routine to run before the print order goes in.

Ticketing and check-in need a platform, not a static code

Start with the limit, because it decides what you build. A ticket code only works if every attendee gets a different code and something at the door checks each one against a list and marks it used. That needs a server, a database of registrations and a scanning app connected to both. Quick QR Maker makes static codes: the content is fixed inside the pattern, nothing is stored on a server, and no scan is reported anywhere. A static code cannot be unique per person unless you make one per person by hand, cannot tell whether it has been scanned before, and cannot be cancelled after a refund. Anyone who photographs it has a working copy.

So for paid entry, capacity limits, session access or attendance records, use the ticketing feature of an event platform. It issues one code per order, emails it to the buyer, and gives your door staff a scanning app that turns green once and red on the second attempt. The online QR code scanner on this site can show you what is encoded in any ticket, which is useful when a code will not read, but it has no way to know whether that ticket is valid.

Everything else in this article is what a static code is genuinely good for, which at most events is the larger part of the printed material.

What you want to do, what kind of code, which tool

Before the event: a registration or RSVP code

For a free event where you want a headcount rather than access control, one code that opens a registration form is enough. Google Forms works because the link never changes when you edit the questions, so a code printed on an early flyer keeps working after you add a dietary question in the final week.

1. Build the form. Ask for name and email at minimum; make both required so the sheet is usable for a reminder email.
2. Click Send, choose the link icon and tick Shorten URL. The short forms.gle link is under 30 characters, which produces a much simpler code than the full docs.google.com/forms/d/e/... address. The shortened link is Google's own and stays valid as long as the form does.
3. Open the Google Forms QR code page, paste the link and download a PNG at 300 DPI or an SVG.
4. Put the same code on the invitation, the poster and the confirmation email. Print the short link as text under the code for anyone who prefers to type it.

If you already use a ticketing platform for a paid event, put its public event page URL in the code instead. The page handles the purchase and the platform handles the per-attendee code; the printed code only needs to get people to the page.

The agenda, map and speaker list as a PDF

An agenda changes right up to the morning of the event. A code that opens a PDF at a fixed address handles that: replace the file, keep the address, and every printed code shows the new version. The code stores the URL, not the document, so you can change the file but not the address it lives at; see QR codes that never expire for the full picture on what static codes can and cannot change.

1. Export the agenda as a PDF. Set the page to a single column with body text of at least 11 point, because most attendees will read it on a phone. Keep it under 2 MB so it opens over cellular data before the venue WiFi is up.
2. Upload it to a location whose URL you control and that will not move: a folder on your own website, or a file host that gives a permanent share link. Name the file without a date (agenda.pdf, not agenda-v3-final.pdf), so updating it later does not change the address.
3. Paste the link into the PDF QR code page and download.
4. On the day, put the code on the registration desk, at each session-room door and on the back of the badge.

The floor plan and the exhibitor list go the same way, either as pages in the same PDF or as separate files with separate codes. One document with a table of contents is easier to maintain than three.

Venue WiFi signage

A WiFi code carries the network name and password in a fixed text format:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:ConferenceGuest;P:spring2026;;

T is the security type (WPA for almost every network; WEP or nopass for open networks), S is the network name and P the password. Add H:true; before the final ;; if the network is hidden. iOS 11 and later and Android 10 and later read this with the built-in camera and offer to join the network in one tap.

1. Get the guest network name and password from the venue. Ask specifically for the guest network: whatever you print will be readable by everyone in the room, so it should never be the staff or AV network.
2. Open the WiFi QR generator, enter the name and password, pick WPA and download.
3. Print the network name and password in text next to the code, in at least 14 point type, for people whose phone will not scan.
4. Place a copy at the registration desk, in each session room near the door, and on table tents in the lounge. A single sign at the entrance is not enough; people look for WiFi when they sit down, not when they arrive.

If the venue changes the password the morning of the event, you will need to reprint. Confirm the credentials the day before and print the WiFi signs last.

Speaker and staff vCards on badges

A vCard code holds a vCard 3.0 text block: name, phone, email, company, title, website and address. Scanning it opens the phone's "add contact" screen with the fields filled in. It works for speakers who want attendees to follow up, and for staff badges so an exhibitor can reach the organizer without hunting through email.

Two things follow from the fact that the content lives in the code. First, every field you add makes the pattern denser, and a badge is small, so keep it to name, title, company, email and one phone number, or use a URL to the speaker's profile page instead. Second, whoever scans it gets the details, so use the speaker's work phone, not their mobile, unless they say otherwise.

1. Collect the fields from each speaker in a spreadsheet with one row per person.
2. For a handful of people, enter each into the vCard QR generator and download an SVG for the badge template. For a long list, the bulk generator takes the spreadsheet as a CSV and produces one file per row.
3. Put the code on the back of the badge, or on the title slide of that speaker's session at a size the back row can scan (see the size table below).

Feedback surveys and sponsor links

A feedback code works when it is in front of people while the session is still fresh. Put it on the last slide of each talk and on a table tent at the exit. A Google Form link goes through the Google Forms page; a survey from another tool goes through the URL QR generator. Keep the form to five questions or fewer; a long form on a phone gets abandoned at question six.

For sponsors, ask each one for the exact page they want traffic sent to, and ask them to keep it short. A campaign URL with three tracking parameters can be 150 characters, which produces a dense code that needs to be printed larger to scan; a URL under about 80 characters produces a noticeably simpler one. If the sponsor wants tracking, the cleanest option is a short address on their own domain that redirects to the tracked page, so the printed code stays simple and they keep control of the destination. Do not route it through a public shortener you do not own; if that service changes its terms, every printed code stops working at once.

Quick QR Maker does not count scans. If the destination is a page you or the sponsor control, its own analytics show visits from that address; add a parameter such as ?src=banner to one code and ?src=badge to another to see which placement got scanned.

A printed calendar event

For a save-the-date card or a series poster, the Event type on the generator encodes a calendar entry directly. Choose Event, enter the title, start and end time, location, a short description and the registration URL. The code carries a standard VCALENDAR text block; when scanned, the phone offers to add the entry to its calendar with those details, no download required. Times are stored in UTC and the phone converts them to its own time zone, so a 9:00 start in Chicago shows correctly to someone scanning in New York.

Keep the description to one sentence. Like a vCard, everything typed into the fields ends up in the pattern, and a paragraph of description makes a code that will not fit on a postcard.

Sizing for banners, posters, table tents and badges

The rule of thumb is that a code should be at least one tenth of the distance it will be scanned from, and that is the minimum, not the target. Work out the distance for each placement, then use the size calculator to turn it into millimeters for your particular content, because a dense vCard needs more room than a short URL at the same distance.

Two consequences. A vCard on a badge is the hardest case: small size and dense content, which is why the fewer-fields advice above matters. And a code on a slide has to be scannable from the back of the room, so make it a large part of the slide rather than a corner logo.

Every code needs a quiet zone of at least four modules of blank margin on every side. On a banner that means keeping the code away from the edge and away from adjacent artwork; on a badge it means not butting it against the name.

Printing

Export a PNG at 300 DPI for anything that will be printed at the size you exported, and an SVG or PDF for anything that a printer will scale, since vector files have no resolution to lose. The print guide covers file setup in detail; the short version for events:

• Dark modules on a light background scan most reliably. Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. If the event brand is white on navy, put the code in a white panel rather than inverting it, or test the inverted version on several phones before printing a run.
• Choose matte stock or matte lamination for anything under stage lighting or near windows. Glossy banners reflect the lights and the reflection lands on the code.
• Use error correction M for plain codes and H for any code with a logo in the middle. A logo should cover no more than roughly 20 to 30% of the code area. The design studio shows a live scannability score as you add one.
• Badges flip on the lanyard. Print the code on both sides, or accept that half the badges will show the blank side.
• One code per placement, in a spreadsheet with the placement name, the URL and the printed size. When someone reports that "the code on the poster doesn't work", you need to know which poster.

Testing before the print run

1. Upload each exported file to the QR code tester. It decodes the image and shows exactly what is inside, which catches a pasted URL with a trailing space or a WiFi password typed with a typo.
2. Print one copy of each piece at final size on the final stock. Scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone from the distance in the table above, in light similar to the venue.
3. Open every destination on cellular data with WiFi switched off. Venue WiFi is often not live until the morning of the event, and a PDF that takes twenty seconds on a weak signal will be abandoned.
4. Check the PDF and form on both a small phone and a tablet. Make sure the form submits and the response lands in the sheet.
5. Sign off the spreadsheet from the printing section, then send the files.

Day-of checklist

1. Confirm the WiFi credentials with the venue and scan a WiFi sign on your own phone before doors open.
2. Scan the agenda code and check that the file that opens is the latest version.
3. Put feedback codes in place before the first session, not after it.
4. Keep a printed copy of every URL at the registration desk so staff can type it for an attendee whose phone will not scan.
5. Keep a few spare WiFi and agenda signs in the box for rooms that turn out to need them.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use one static code as the ticket for a free event? Yes, if you do not need to control entry: point the code at the RSVP form and count responses. If you need to know who actually arrived or turn people away at capacity, you need per-attendee codes from a ticketing platform.

What happens if the agenda changes after the posters are printed? Nothing, provided the code links to a PDF at a fixed address. Replace the file at that address and the printed code shows the new version.

How do I make 150 exhibitor booth codes? Put the booth name and URL in a CSV, one row per booth, and upload it to the bulk generator. It produces a named file per row.

Do the codes stop working after the event? No. A static code has no expiry and does not depend on this site being online; it only stops working if the destination it links to is taken down.

The generator on the homepage makes the URL, WiFi, vCard and calendar codes described here, free and without an account.