QR code print size for a cafe menu: table card, poster, window

How big a QR code print size needs to be: the rule of ten

A menu QR code does one job. It opens your menu page on the guest's phone. If the phone cannot read it from where the guest sits, the job fails, and the guest waves for a paper menu instead.

The simplest way to get the QR code print size right is the rule of ten. Measure how far the phone will be from the code. Divide that distance by ten. The answer is the width of the code.

A guest at a table holds a phone about 0.3 metres from a table card. One tenth of 0.3 metres is 30 mm. So the code on that card should be about 30 mm wide.

A person in a queue reads a counter poster from about 1 metre. One tenth of that is 100 mm. A passer-by reads a window sign from about 2 metres. That code needs to be 200 mm wide.

The rule is not exact science. It is a safe starting point that works for most phones in normal light. Below it, some phones read the code and some do not. Above it, nearly all of them do.

Sizes for each printed object in a cafe

This post is about one use: a code that opens your menu. Here is how the rule plays out on the printed objects a cafe actually uses.

For a table tent, we suggest 35 mm. It leaves room for a guest who leans back in the chair. It also forgives a phone with an older camera.

Do not go below 25 mm on any menu object. Under that size, the small squares inside the code start to blur on a cheap print, and phones begin to struggle.

The A3 window sign is the one people get wrong most often. A 60 mm code looks fine when you stand at the glass. From the pavement it is a grey smudge. If the sign is meant to pull people in from the street, give the code most of the sheet.

The white border around the code

Every QR code needs a plain margin around it. Printers call it the quiet zone. Phones use it to find where the code starts and stops.

The margin should be at least four of the code's small squares wide on every side. On a 35 mm table card code, that is about 5 mm of clear space all round. On a 100 mm poster code, it is about 14 mm.

Keep text, borders, logos and table numbers out of that margin. A designer who pulls the menu heading tight against the code can make a perfectly sized code fail.

Count the margin as extra. A 35 mm code with its border takes about 45 mm of space on the card. Plan the layout around the larger figure.

Short links print smaller

The more text a code points to, the more small squares it needs. A long web address packed into the code makes a dense pattern. Each square gets smaller at the same print width.

A dynamic code fixes this. The code itself opens a short link. The short link then sends the guest to your menu page. Because the link is short, the pattern stays simple, and each square stays large enough to print cleanly.

As a working check, each small square on a table card should be at least 1 mm across. If your code has about 29 squares from edge to edge, a 35 mm print gives you a little over 1 mm each. That is comfortable.

A dynamic code has a second benefit for a cafe. When the menu changes, you re-point the code to the new page. The cards on the tables stay the same. You do not reprint 40 table tents because the soup of the day moved.

Contrast, finish and light

Size is only half of a code that scans. The other half is contrast.

Print the code dark on a light background. Black on white is the safest. Deep brown or navy on cream also works well. Pale grey on white does not. Gold foil on black looks smart and often fails.

Do not flip the colours to light on dark. Many phones still read it, but not all of them. On a menu card, you cannot choose which phone the guest brings.

Choose a matte finish for anything laminated. Gloss throws back the light from ceiling lamps, and the glare can wash out half the code. A matte table tent avoids this.

Think about the light at the busiest hour. A cafe that dims the lights in the evening should add about a quarter to the code width. A 35 mm table code becomes about 45 mm. A phone in low light needs bigger squares to lock on.

Keep the code flat where you can. A code wrapped round a curved cup sleeve or a rounded stand bends the squares. If the surface curves, make the code larger, or move it to a flat face.

Test before the full print run

Print one copy at full size on the paper you will use. Do not test from the screen. A screen glows, and paper does not.

Put the test print where it will live. Sit in the chair, stand in the queue, or walk to the pavement. Scan from that spot with three different phones, including an older one.

Check that the code opens the right page. Check it opens quickly on mobile data, not only on the cafe's wireless network. A guest who waits ten seconds for a heavy menu file often gives up.

If one phone fails, go up a size. Moving a table card code from 30 mm to 35 mm costs nothing in print, and it removes most of the failures.

Where the code should open, and getting one made

Decide what the guest should see first. For most cafes it is the menu itself, sized for a phone, with prices as printed on the paper menu. Do not send guests to a home page and make them hunt.

Once the page is ready, make the code as a dynamic code so you can re-point it later. Then set the width with the rule of ten, add the white margin, and test one print before you order the run.

You can create and print menu codes on BuyQRCode. Use code STARTUP10 for 10% off one order per account. It is valid until 31 December 2026 or for the first 100 uses on this site, whichever comes first.

If your menu also lives on a delivery or ordering service, tell us where you sell and we will help you decide which page each code should open.