Map location QR codes for places without an address

Street addresses are good at finding front doors and bad at almost everything else. The Map location kind in QR by Zaweba is for the rest: you enter a position, the app writes it into the code as a geo: location, and phones that scan it offer to open that exact spot in their maps app.

It points at a place on the ground rather than a building, which is exactly what some jobs need.

Places an address can't find

Think of the places where an address sends people to the wrong spot. The overflow car park for an event, a field away from the house it belongs to. The side gate of an allotment site. A meeting point at a particular bench or tree. A spot on a trail or a footpath where a walk starts. The goods entrance round the back of a building. A pitch at a campsite or a stall at a market.

In each case, a code on an invitation, a sign or a leaflet takes people's phones straight to the right place, with their maps app ready to give directions.

Getting the position

The position is a point on the map, and the most reliable way to get it is to find the spot in a maps app or on a map website and read off its coordinates. Many maps show them when you press and hold, or right-click, on a point. Copy them carefully into QR by Zaweba.

Check the spot before you rely on it. It is easy to drop a pin on the wrong side of a road or a river. If you can, stand at the place itself and compare.

What phones do with it

A geo: location is a standard way to describe a point, and phones that recognise it offer to open it in a maps app. From there the person can see the spot, get directions or save it. Different phones and maps apps behave a little differently, so scan your code with your own phone, and if possible a friend's, before printing many.

Because the position is stored in the code itself, it never expires and doesn't depend on any service staying online.

Making it easy to read on site

Location codes often live outdoors: on a gate, a post, a laminated sign. Set the size in millimetres to suit how far away people will stand, keep a clear margin of empty space around it, and use dark on light colours. The live preview reads the code back after every change and tells you if the colours or the margin would stop it scanning.

Error correction helps for signs that will get weathered or dirty. Higher levels such as Q or H let a code still scan when part of it is scratched or covered, at the cost of a denser pattern. Try a higher level and see how the preview looks.

Save as SVG or PDF for a sign maker, since both are vector and print at exactly the size you set, or as PNG at 300 dpi or more for a home-printed notice. Copy picture drops it straight into an invitation or a newsletter.

Errors that send people astray

The commonest mistake is coordinates in the wrong order or with a digit missing, which can put the pin miles away. The next is printing only a code: always add a line of words, such as "Overflow parking, scan for the map", so people know what they will get. And for something a few steps away, a plain arrow on a sign may be kinder than any code.