QR Code vCard
The choice for business cards and badges scanned with a phone camera: vCard 3.0 with all eight form fields.
Create QR Code vCard ›Used by 700,000+ people
Free vCard QR code generator.
Turn a business card contact into a QR Code or Data Matrix: name, company, job title, phone, email, website and address as vCard text, or a shorter MeCard.
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How to create a vCard QR code
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01
Fill in the contact, name first
Enter the fields you want to share; empty ones are left out. Always give a first or last name, from which the generator builds the formatted name that vCard 3.0 requires.
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02
Set 300 dpi and 5-pixel modules
Under Settings, choose 300 dpi and a module width of 5 pixels: modules of 0.423 mm, so the eight-field sample needs 27.5 mm with its quiet zone. Download PNG, place it at 100% and add the 4-module margin in your layout: the image has none.
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03
Test a printed proof on iPhone and Android
Scan one printed card with an iPhone and an Android phone and save the contact. Check every field, above all the address, which the generator writes as a single line, and the phone number, typed as home.
What a vCard QR code carries
A vCard QR code carries a contact as text in vCard, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) format for electronic business cards. NTT DOCOMO's MeCard is shorter and has fewer fields. The contact sits in the code itself, not behind a web link, so it needs no server and does not expire. A new number or job title means a new print.
Where vCard QR codes go: business cards, badges, brochures
On the back of a business card, the code repeats the printed contact in the format address books import, so nobody types a number. At trade fairs, it goes on badges and counter stands for visitors to scan with a phone camera.
In brochures and packaging inserts, the code names the person to call. For email signatures, attach a .vcf file as well: a phone's camera cannot see its own screen, and the iPhone imports .vcf attachments with a tap.
Separate contact fields, and the card space the code needs
A vCard delivers separate fields, not a block of text to copy. Google's ML Kit, a barcode library for app developers, returns name, organization, title, phones, emails, addresses and URLs from vCard and MeCard codes.
Size follows the data: the eight-field sample needs 57 × 57 modules, 24.1 mm at 0.423 mm per module. A quiet zone of 4 modules adds 1.7 mm per side. At 300 dpi, each module is 5 printer dots; DENSO WAVE recommends at least 4, and printing as large as space allows.
One code per employee: formats and automation
Every employee needs their own code. Downloads come as PNG, GIF or JPG, and as SVG vector files with a plan.
TBarCode Office has vCard templates, and TEC-IT's vCard 3.0 Excel sheet builds each card for a Word mail merge. Keep each vCard within the 255 characters a merge field holds, four fewer than the eight-field sample. Barcode Studio imports data from a CSV file and exports all codes in one run; TBarCode API returns each code over HTTP.
vCard QR code at a glance
- Symbology
- QR Code (Model 2); Data Matrix ECC 200
- Payload
- vCard 3.0 (RFC 2426) or MeCard (NTT DOCOMO)
- Required vCard lines
BEGIN,VERSION,FN,N,END- Character set
- UTF-8, without an Extended Channel Interpretation (ECI) marker
- Error correction
- Level L (QR Code variants)
- Size of the sample
- 57 × 57 modules (QR Code); 64 × 64 (Data Matrix)
- Quiet zone
- 4 modules (QR Code); 1 module (Data Matrix)
The vCard the generator writes, line by line
Without job title and address, the sample contact fills 9 lines and 199 characters, separated by carriage return and line feed (CRLF).
| Line | What it holds | RFC 2426 |
|---|---|---|
BEGIN:VCARD | Start of the card | Required |
VERSION:3.0 | vCard version | Required |
FN:John Doe | Formatted name | Required |
N;CHARSET=UTF-8:Doe;John;;; | Family; given; additional names; prefix; suffix | Required |
TEL;TYPE=HOME,VOICE:+43725272720 | Phone, typed as home voice line | Optional |
EMAIL:office@tec-it.com | Email address | Optional |
ORG:TEC-IT Datenverarbeitung GmbH | Company | Optional |
URL:https://www.tec-it.com | Website | Optional |
END:VCARD | End of the card | Required |
A job title adds TITLE: after the company, an address ADR: before the website. Commas, semicolons and backslashes in values get a backslash: Steyr\, Austria. Unlike RFC 2426, the generator gives N a CHARSET parameter, which vCard 3.0 eliminated, and writes the whole address into the first ADR part, the post office box.
As MeCard, the same contact is one line of 122 characters: MECARD:N:John Doe;TEL:+43725272720;EMAIL:office@tec-it.com;NOTE:TEC-IT Datenverarbeitung GmbH;URL:https\://www.tec-it.com;. MeCard has no company field, so the sample puts the company into the note; colons get a backslash too.
vCard or MeCard: what each format can carry
RFC 2426 defined vCard 3.0 in 1998. RFC 6350 replaced it in 2011 with vCard 4.0 and noted that older versions were still in common use.
| Content | vCard 3.0 | MeCard | Generator form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | FN and N (family; given; …) | N (last, first) | vCard: first, last; MeCard: one field |
| Company, job title | ORG, TITLE | None | vCard only |
| Phone | TEL, typed work, home, cell, fax … | TEL (digits, * and # only), TEL-AV (videophone) | One number; vCard types it home |
| Email, website | EMAIL, URL | EMAIL, URL | Both |
| Address | ADR, 7 parts from PO box to country | ADR, 7 parts | vCard: one line |
| More | NOTE, BDAY, PHOTO, LOGO … | NOTE, BDAY, SOUND, NICKNAME | MeCard: note |
NTT DOCOMO allows only digits, * and # in a MeCard phone number, so the + of international numbers lies outside its specification.
How much contact data a business card QR code should hold
DENSO WAVE puts the amount a phone camera reads at about 271 bytes (version 10, level L), depending on the model. The eight-field sample stays below it, at 259 bytes.
| Content | Characters | QR Code | QR Code width at 0.423 mm, quiet zone included | Data Matrix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MeCard: name, phone, email, company as note, website | 122 | 41 × 41 (version 6) | 20.7 mm | 40 × 40 |
| vCard with the same five items | 199 | 49 × 49 (version 8) | 24.1 mm | 52 × 52 |
| vCard with all eight fields | 259 | 57 × 57 (version 10) | 27.5 mm | 64 × 64 |
At level M instead of the generator's level L, the eight-field sample would need 65 × 65 modules.
Mistakes that spoil a contact code
- No name on a company card. The vCard then lacks FN, the formatted name RFC 2426 makes mandatory. Enter a person or a department as the name.
- Private details in a public code. Anyone who photographs the badge can read every field, so use office numbers and addresses.
- Too much data for the space. At 15 mm, the eight-field sample has 0.26 mm modules, and DENSO WAVE notes that every scanner has its own minimum module size. Drop optional fields or print larger.
- A logo on the modules. DENSO WAVE warns that an illustration over the code can make it unreadable, and the generator's level L restores only about 7% of the codewords. Put the logo beside it.
vCard QR code or another code type
QR Code ›
A plain QR Code holds text or a web address, but no contact fields to save.
Phone number QR code ›
A phone QR code holds one number as a tel: link, without name or company.
Wi-Fi QR code ›
A Wi-Fi QR code carries a network name and password, not a person.
LinkedIn QR code ›
A LinkedIn QR code links to a profile page, which stays current but needs a connection.
Four variants: vCard or MeCard, QR Code or Data Matrix
Pick the format by the fields you need and the symbol by who will scan it.
Data Matrix vCard
Pick it for scanners and apps you control: Google's ML Kit reads Data Matrix, while Apple's and Google's camera guides describe QR Codes. As Data Matrix ECC 200, the sample vCard takes 64 × 64 modules.
Create Data Matrix vCard ›QR Code MeCard
NTT DOCOMO's compact format: 41 × 41 instead of 49 × 49 modules for the sample contact, but no company or job title. Pick it when name, phone, email, website and a note will do.
Create QR Code MeCard ›Data Matrix MeCard
MeCard as Data Matrix, 40 × 40 modules for the sample: the smallest of the four once quiet zones count. Pick it for the tightest space, and only with readers you have tested.
Create Data Matrix MeCard ›Frequently asked questions
Learn more about vCard QR code.
Do vCard QR codes work on iPhone and Android?
Both scan QR Codes, but Apple's and Google's camera guides do not mention contact codes. Apple's iPhone guide covers scanning QR Codes and importing vCards; Google's ML Kit, a scanning library for Android and iOS apps, turns vCard and MeCard codes into contact fields. Test a printed proof on both.
Can I change a vCard QR code after printing?
No. The contact is stored in the code, so a new number, job title or address needs a new code and new cards. For details that change often, put the web address of a contact page in a plain QR Code; it works only while the page is online.
Can a vCard QR code include a photo or logo?
Not in practice. vCard defines PHOTO and LOGO for images, but DENSO WAVE advises assuming that images cannot be stored in a QR Code that phones read. The generator has no image field. Print your logo next to the code.
Do I need a QR Code trademark notice on my business card?
Not for the code alone. DENSO WAVE says a business card showing only the QR Code image needs no trademark comment: the trademark covers the word, not the pattern. If the card prints the words “QR Code”, DENSO WAVE asks for the note that QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.
Can a vCard QR code hold umlauts, Cyrillic or Chinese characters?
Yes. The generator stores every character as UTF-8, without an ECI marker naming the character set. TEC-IT's Barcode Reference notes that smartphone reader apps try to detect UTF-8, and Google's ML Kit does not read QR Codes with an ECI. Test names in other scripts on your contacts' phones.
More resources
Guide
QR Code® (2D Barcode)
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