How to create a QR code for photo sharing

To create a QR code for photo sharing you need a link and a printer, and that part takes minutes. Whether guests actually use it depends on where the link leads, how big the code is printed and where you put it. This guide covers each of those for any event, and shows how to make the code and printable signs in AllSnaps.

Decide what the code opens

Point the code at a page where guests can upload straight away. A cloud folder that asks for a sign-in, or an app store page, loses guests at the first screen.

A good upload page opens in the phone's browser, asks for nothing more than an optional name, and accepts photos from the camera and from the camera roll. Test it on a phone that has never visited the page before.

Static or dynamic QR codes

A static code stores the link itself. It never expires, and any free generator can make one. A dynamic code stores a short link that belongs to the generator, which forwards guests to your page. You can change the destination later, but if the generator's plan lapses, printed codes can stop working.

For an event, the safest choice is the code your photo service gives you, pointing at its own page with no third party in the middle.

Making the code and signs in AllSnaps

The QR code comes with the event, so there's no separate generator. You need an account to create an event, and your first event is free.

Create your event and choose a live wall or disposable camera mode.
Open the Signage Kit from the event's admin page and pick one of 13 designs.
Edit the headline and tagline, and choose whether the sign shows the event date or a PIN.
Download a PDF or PNG at 300 DPI, or print from the browser at 100% size.
Changing the event's settings later doesn't change the code, so you can print early.

Compare the passes

Which sign for which spot

There's a format for each place a guest might see one.

A welcome poster, A3 or 18 × 24 in, for the entrance or next to the seating plan.
Table cards, 4 × 6 in or A6, one per table.
A folding table tent printed on one sheet, readable from both sides of the table.
Four wedding designs, two party designs, a corporate design in your event's colors, and designs for baby showers and graduations.
A disposable camera sign that shows how many shots each guest gets and when the photos develop.

Where to place the signs

Put a code wherever people stand around with a phone in their hand and a minute to spare.

On every table, at eye level for someone sitting down. The entrance alone isn't enough, because people there are busy saying hello.
At the bar, and next to the guestbook or the photo booth.
On the live wall itself, which can show the QR code in a corner of the screen.
Somewhere with light. A code in a dark corner, or under glossy lamination with a lamp glaring on it, is hard to scan.

Show guest photos on a live slideshow

Size, wording and a test scan

A rough rule: make the code at least a tenth as wide as the distance it's scanned from. On a table card that means about 3 cm (just over an inch). On a poster read from 2 metres away, about 20 cm (8 in).

Keep the wording short and say that no app is needed, for example "Scan with your phone camera to share your photos. No app needed." Then print one copy and scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone in the room's real light. Print the rest only after that works.

QR codes for wedding photos

Questions

Can I make a free QR code for photo sharing?

Yes. A static code from any free generator works and doesn't expire. In AllSnaps the code comes with the event, and your first event is free.

Do QR codes expire?

Static codes don't, because the link is stored in the pattern itself. Dynamic codes depend on the service that forwards them, so check its terms before you print.

Can I print the signs weeks before the event?

Yes. The code stays the same when you change the event's settings, so you can print as soon as the event exists.

What if a guest can't scan the code?

Send them the join link by message or email instead. It opens the same page.

Should the QR code go on the invitations?

It can, but most guests won't have the invitation with them on the day. Put it on the tables as well.

Make your QR code and signs

Create a free event, open the Signage Kit and print a test card today.