How to make a QR code for a PDF

A PDF code is a link

The largest QR code, version 40, is 177 × 177 modules and holds at most 2,953 bytes at the lowest error correction. That’s less than most PDFs, and a code that dense is impractical to print and scan anyway. So you upload the PDF somewhere, get a public address for it, and put that address in the code. When someone scans it, their phone opens the address and shows or downloads the file.

That means two separate jobs: hosting the file, and making the code. QR Island does the second. We don’t host files, so the PDF lives on your website or a file-sharing service, and the code points there.

Where to host the PDF

• Your own website. Most website builders and content systems let you upload a PDF and give it an address on your domain. It’s the most dependable home for a PDF in a printed code: no extra account, your domain in the address, and it lasts as long as your site does.
• A cloud drive or file-sharing service. Upload the file, then set its sharing so anyone with the link can view it, without signing in. It’s free and quick. The link usually opens the service’s preview page rather than the bare PDF, some phones get a prompt to install the service’s app, and the links are long: a typical drive link of about 80 characters makes a 45 × 45 code where https://example.com/menu.pdf makes 29 × 29. The file also depends on your account: close it or let a paid storage plan lapse, and the link may stop working.
• A document or flipbook hosting service. These often bundle their own QR codes, frequently dynamic ones on a subscription. Check what happens to the code if you stop paying.

Avoid links that need a sign-in, such as a work drive shared only within your organisation, and file-transfer links, which usually expire after a week or so. And remember that a public link is public: anyone with the code can open the file and pass it on, so never use this for documents with personal details.

Keep the address when you update the file

Menus, price lists and timetables change. If the new version gets a new address, every printed code still points at the old one, or at nothing.

• On your own site, uploading a file with the same name doesn’t always replace it: many systems save the second upload under a new name, such as menu-1.pdf. Use a replace option if your system has one, or point the code at a page, such as example.com/menu, that links to the current PDF or redirects to it.
• On a cloud drive, replacing the file’s contents in place, as a new version of the same file, usually keeps the share link. Uploading a new copy creates a new link. How it works varies by service, so try it with a test file before you print.
• Never put a date or version in the file name the code uses: menu-october-final-v2.pdf is wrong by November.

If you’re likely to move the file between services, a dynamic code lets you repoint it without reprinting.

Make the PDF readable on a phone

Most PDFs are A4 or US Letter pages laid out for paper. On a phone screen people pinch, zoom and scroll sideways. A few changes help a lot:

• One column, large text, high contrast. A smaller page size such as A5, or a tall narrow page, reads better on a phone than a full A4 sheet.
• Keep it small: ideally under 2 MB, so it opens quickly on mobile data. Compress the images, and export from the source document rather than scanning a printout, which makes a heavy file of pictures that can’t be searched or read aloud.
• Export it tagged (accessible), so screen readers can read it in order. Most word processors offer this when saving as PDF.
• Set the document title in the file’s properties. Many browsers show it in place of the file name.

What happens on a scan varies: depending on the phone and browser, the PDF opens in the browser, in a viewer app, or downloads first. Test on an iPhone and an Android phone.

When a web page is better than a PDF

For anything people read on a phone and you update often, a simple web page beats a PDF. It fits the screen, loads faster, can be translated by the browser in a tap and read by screen readers, and you change it without uploading a new file. Our guide to restaurant menu QR codes makes the case for menus in detail.

A PDF is the better choice for documents that must look exactly as designed, forms people print and fill in, instructions with detailed diagrams, and files people want to keep.

Test it

Scan the printed proof with Wi‑Fi off, on mobile data, and open it in a phone that isn’t signed in to the account that holds the file, or in a private tab. That’s the only way to see what everyone else sees: a sharing setting left on “only me” works perfectly for you. Check how long it takes to open and whether you can read it without zooming.

Make it in QR Island

Upload the PDF wherever suits you, copy its public address, then in the QR Island studio choose Link and paste it. Get QR code gives you the flat code to download as PNG or SVG, and the free print sheet shows the sizes. Free codes are static and never expire, so the print keeps working as long as the address does. If you may move the file later, an Editable code, our dynamic code, costs US$19 a year: it prints a short qrisland.com link whose destination you can change at any time from its manage link, and it includes the Island pack.