PNG, SVG or PDF: Which File to Download Your QR Code As

SVG or PDF for anything printed. PNG only for screens, at the size you exported it. That single rule prevents the most common way a good code becomes an unreadable one.

PNG — screens, at one size

A PNG is a grid of pixels. At the size it was exported it is pixel-perfect; enlarged beyond that, the modules go soft and ragged, and the edges between light and dark — which is the only thing a scanner reads — turn to mush. A 300-pixel PNG stretched across 20 cm of a poster is the classic failure, and it fails first on exactly the phones you cannot control: older cameras in bad light.

Use PNG for: a website, a slide, a social post, an email. For email specifically PNG is the right choice, because many email clients will not render an SVG at all.

One practical note: export at roughly twice the size you will display, so the code stays sharp on high-density screens.

SVG — the format to hand a designer

An SVG describes the code as shapes rather than pixels, so it scales from a business card to a building with no loss whatsoever, and the file is usually a few kilobytes. It opens in Illustrator, Affinity, Figma and Inkscape, where the colour can be adjusted and the code placed in a layout.

This is the file to send when someone else is doing the artwork. It is also the safest thing to archive: a vector file printed correctly in 2026 will print correctly in 2036.

PDF — the format to hand a printer

A PDF carries the same vector shapes but adds something SVG does not: a defined physical size. Our PDF export is built at 300 DPI and sized in millimetres — 50 mm across by default — so the code drops into a print layout already the right size instead of being scaled by whoever opens it.

That matters because the most common print error is not a bad file, it is a good file resized by eye until the code is too small for the distance it will be read from.

What to actually send a print shop

1. The vector file — PDF if they asked for print-ready, SVG if they will place it themselves.
2. The physical size in millimetres, stated in writing, not left to judgement. Roughly a tenth of the reading distance.
3. A note that the white border must stay. The quiet zone around the pattern is part of the code, and it is the first thing a layout artist crops.
4. A printed proof you have scanned yourself, before the run.

If a printer asks for EPS: we do not export it, and you almost certainly do not need it. EPS is a legacy vector format, and any shop that can print will accept PDF or SVG. If they insist, opening the SVG in a vector editor and saving as EPS takes a minute and loses nothing.

Two traps that ruin a good file

Colour conversion

Our exports are RGB. Offset printing is CMYK, and the printer converts — which is fine for a code, because the only thing that matters is that dark stays dark. Where people cause themselves trouble is by hand-tuning a "rich black" or a deep brand colour that converts into something muddy. For the modules, plain black is the safest choice you can make, and it is never the wrong one.

Transparency and busy backgrounds

A QR code needs a light, quiet area around and behind it. Placing a code with no background over a photograph, a dark panel or a pattern removes exactly the contrast the scanner depends on — and it will still look fine in the layout on screen.

Give the code its own light panel. It is a small design concession that decides whether the thing works at all.

Quick answers

• Which format is best for printing? PDF if you want it print-ready at a set size, SVG if a designer will place it.
• Can I just enlarge a PNG? No. That is the most common cause of a printed code that will not scan.
• Which format for a website? PNG at about twice the display size, or SVG if you control the markup.
• Which format for email? PNG. Many email clients do not render SVG.
• Do you export EPS? No. PDF or SVG covers every print shop; convert if someone genuinely insists.
• RGB or CMYK? Exports are RGB and the printer converts. Keep the modules plain black and there is nothing to manage.
• Can the background be transparent? Do not rely on it — a code needs a light area behind it. Place it on its own light panel.