Plain text QR codes: when nothing else fits

Every kind of QR code is text underneath. The Plain text kind in QR by Zaweba simply drops the wrapping. Whatever you type, a short message, a serial number, a reference, a note, goes into the code exactly as typed, with nothing added around it, and phones show that text when they scan it.

The other seven kinds are this one with a format applied for you. Knowing that makes it easier to choose.

What the other kinds add

When you use the Wi-Fi network kind, QR by Zaweba writes text in the WIFI:...;; form that phones expect. The Contact card kind writes a vCard. Email writes a mailto: link, Phone call a tel: link, Text message an SMSTO: link and Map location a geo: position. Phones recognise those formats and act on them: joining a network, saving a contact, opening a mail app.

Plain text has no format. The phone reads the characters and shows them, usually with options to copy or search for them. That is either exactly what you want or not what you want at all, which is why it matters to choose deliberately.

Jobs for plain text

Use it for information that is meant to be read rather than acted on. An asset or serial number on a piece of equipment, so it can be scanned into a phone without typing. A reference for a box in storage. A short message hidden in a treasure hunt or an escape-room puzzle. A line of instructions in a classroom activity. The answers to a quiz, printed as a code so nobody peeks too early.

It is also the kind to use when you need precise control: exactly these characters, nothing added. If you are making codes for a system that expects a particular string, plain text gives you that string.

When another kind is better

Plain text can hold a web address, but a phone may treat a link written as plain text differently from one made with the Web address kind. If you want a page to open, use Web address. If you want someone to join your Wi-Fi, typing the details as plain text won't do it; the Wi-Fi network kind writes the form phones need. The same goes for contacts, emails, calls, texts and map positions.

A good rule: if you want the phone to do something, pick the matching kind. If you want the phone to show something, pick plain text.

Length and density

Every character you add makes the code denser, with more and smaller squares at the same size. A few words or a reference number make a light, easy code; a paragraph makes a dense one that needs to be printed larger to scan well. Keep it short where you can.

The live preview reads the code back after every change and says Checked: it reads back exactly, or explains what is wrong. If you raise error correction to make a code tougher, or add a logo, the code gets denser again, so watch the preview and increase the size in millimetres if it starts to look busy.

Saving and using it

Save as PNG for documents and labels, SVG for designers and anything that has to scale, or PDF for a one-page vector file the size of the code. Copy picture puts it straight onto the clipboard for a worksheet or a slide. For a sheet of labels, the same creator is inside Labels by Zaweba under Insert, where Put on the label adds the code to the design.

Test it with a phone, and read what appears. If it is exactly what you typed, the code is doing its job.