The link to use
Every public Instagram profile has a web address: https://www.instagram.com/ followed by the username. For an account called cornercafe.bakery:
https://www.instagram.com/cornercafe.bakery/That is all the code needs. Usernames are up to 30 characters of letters, numbers, full stops and underscores, and capital letters don’t matter. Open the address in a private browser window to check it shows your profile before you make anything.
Links copied from the app sometimes carry extra text after a question mark, such as ?igsh= or ?utm_source= followed by a string of characters. The profile opens without it, and the code is smaller, so delete everything from the question mark on. Here is what the extra text costs:
| Link | Characters | Code version (modules) | Smallest print |
|---|---|---|---|
| The plain profile address | 44 | 4 (33 × 33) | 2 cm |
| The same with three tracking parameters | 98 | 8 (49 × 49) | 2.5 cm |
Choose your username before you print anything that lasts. If you change it, the old address stops leading to you, and printed packaging keeps pointing at a profile that has gone, or one day at someone else who takes the name.
Instagram’s own code or one you make
Instagram can show a QR code for your profile, with a choice of backgrounds, and save it as an image. At the time of writing it is under Share profile on your profile page; the app moves things around, so look in the profile menu if it isn’t there. It opens the same profile as the address above.
It is fine for someone standing next to you. For print, a code you make yourself has some advantages:
- You get a file made for printing, such as an SVG that stays sharp at any size, rather than an image designed for a phone screen.
- You know exactly what it holds: your profile address and nothing else.
- You can match it to your packaging colours, as long as the code stays dark on a light background with strong contrast.
- You can point the same printed code at your website instead, if you later decide that serves people better.
What people see without the app
On a phone with Instagram installed and signed in, the address usually opens straight in the app, on your profile, with the follow button. Without the app, or signed out, it opens in the browser. There Instagram typically shows the profile and some posts, then asks the visitor to log in or get the app before they can see much more. That is Instagram’s choice, and no code can change it.
Plan around it:
- Don’t hide essentials behind the code. Ingredients, allergens, care instructions and how to order belong on the pack in text. Your profile is a showcase, not a substitute.
- Make the first screen count. The bio and the top of the grid are what a new visitor sees before any prompt, so say there what you sell and how to buy it, and pin the posts that explain it.
- Consider your website for sales. If the code’s job is orders or bookings, a link to your own site works for everyone, with or without an Instagram account, and the site can link to Instagram.
On packaging and business cards
- Use a flat face. Keep the code away from folds, seams, crimped edges and the tight curve of a cup or jar. If it has to sit on a curve, keep it small compared with the curve and test it on the real container, not on a flat proof.
- Print the handle beside it. “@cornercafe.bakery” under the code tells people what it opens and lets anyone who would rather search do so.
- Say why to scan. “New flavours every Friday on Instagram” gives a reason; a bare logo doesn’t.
- Mind the material. Kraft paper and brown bags lower the contrast. Print the code in solid black or a very dark colour, never in a mid-tone brand colour on kraft, and check it with our guide to QR code colours.
- Keep the margin. Leave four modules of clear space on every side: about 2.5 mm for a profile code printed 2 cm wide.
Size for a 20–30 cm read
Packaging and cards are read close, with the item in one hand and the phone in the other, usually from 20 to 30 cm. The everyday rule is a code width of about a tenth of the scanning distance, so 2–3 cm. A plain profile address prints safely at 2 cm, where each module is about 0.6 mm.
| Where | Read from | Code width |
|---|---|---|
| Business card, swing tag, label | 15–25 cm | 2–2.5 cm |
| Takeaway bag, box, cup sleeve | 20–30 cm | 2.5–3 cm |
| Counter card | 50 cm–1 m | 5–10 cm |
| Shop window | 1–2 m | 10–20 cm |
Use whichever is bigger, the distance rule or the code’s smallest safe size. If you keep tracking parameters in the link, don’t go below 2.5 cm.
Test before the print run
- Print one proof at 100% on the real material and measure the code.
- Scan it with a phone that has Instagram and one that doesn’t (or use a private browser window). Both should reach your profile, not a post or a story.
- Check the handle printed beside the code matches the profile that opens.
- For packaging, make up a real box, bag or cup and scan it at arm’s length under shop lighting.
Make it in QR Island
In the studio, choose Link, paste your profile address without the tracking text, and pick a world such as Manhattan. Get QR code shows the flat code to print; download it as PNG or SVG, or open the free print sheet to see it at true sizes. Free codes are made in your browser and never expire.
For a print run, the Island pack (US$6.99, one-time) adds print-quality files of your styled code with your logo: a 4096 px PNG, an SVG and a PDF print sheet. If your handle might change, an Editable code (US$19 a year) prints a short link you can point at a new profile or your website later, and includes the Island pack.
