Printing a thousand flyers with a broken code is an expensive lesson. Five minutes of testing catches almost every failure long before it reaches a customer, yet it is the step most people skip. Treat this page as the checklist you run through every time a code leaves your screen.
Test on More Than One Phone
A code that opens instantly on your own phone can fail on someone else's. Borrow devices where you can and cover the common cases:
- At least one iPhone and one recent Android phone;
- An older, lower-end device if your audience is likely to use one;
- The in-app scanners people really use — camera, plus any wallet or chat app.
Each reader can interpret the payload differently, so if a code opens in the camera but not in an app, that is a finding worth fixing.
Vary Distance, Angle and Light
Real people scan from awkward positions. Walk the code through these conditions: view it from the near and far ends of the intended range, at a tilt to one side, and under bright light and dim light. A code that only scans straight-on at one distance is too fragile for public use.
Scan a Printed Proof
Screens lie. Always print a single proof at the real size, on the real material, and scan that. Check that the code is not too small, that the quiet margin is intact, and that a matte finish is not washing out the contrast. If your code includes an image, this step is non-negotiable — you can read more about it in ChromaCode image blending.
Keep a Backup Short Link
Dynamic codes depend on a server, and servers go down. Always point your printed code through a short link you control so you can repoint the destination without reprinting, and keep a plain fallback URL written in text near the code. That way a broken redirect never becomes a dead end. Then create a QR code free with QR StarCode and ship it with confidence.