Just a follow up to my post a couple of weeks ago on QR codes — here’s a short list of three free online resources that’ll let you generate custom QR codes for a variety of purposes. Hit Google and you’ll find that there’s really no shortage of these QR code generators out there, but I’ve already checked out a number of them, and here are three I like (and why). I haven’t seen all out there that’s worth seeing in this area, at least I don’t think so, since really, I’ve got better things to do, so if I missed anything you think I should add to this collection, let me know. For order of presentation, let’s go with from the most powerful to the simplest, shall we? Here you go:

QR Stuff
http://www.qrstuff.com

No registration necessary. Image output size is fixed at 200×200 pixels with the free version, and that includes the white margin. We can change the code image’s color (background is always white). The best part: On top of the usual URL, the service lets us pump out codes in a nice variety of different and useful destination formats, such as a Paypal Buy Now link or — coolness! — a complete email, which includes the usual email address and both a subject and full message. To the right, for example, is the custom QR code for an email I used the service to create. I even did it in a dark blue color just because. Go ahead, scan and try it out!

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Willmaster QR Code Generator
http://www.willmaster.com/library/generators/qr-code-generator.php

From my friend master programmer William Bontrager’s site. Free, no registration necessary. Not quite as “checklist” easy to use as the above — you will, for instance, need to read and follow the instructions and specs to specify and format the kind of data you want to store and output (but just type in a URL if that’s all you want to generate… easy!), and it doesn’t look like we can do them in anything but black ink on a white background. No biggie. What I particularly like about this, however, is that we can specify an output image size in pixels.  Here’s one with an http://wordpreneur.com destination that I did in a small 80pix square. That number, again, includes the white margin.

Quikqr
http://quikqr.com

Here’s the easiest of the lot, if all you happen to need is a no-frills one for a URL or weblink. Easy interface.You can generate QR code graphics in three sizes: small (160×160), medium (260×260) and large (360×360). Here’s the small one I set up to lead to my EldonSarte.com site.

– EES

NOTES: I haven’t bothered, nor will I probably ever bother, to test out anything that requires registration. Not that I have anything against the practice, but considering that there are services like the above that give us what they do without requiring any of our info, I’m firmly in the “why bother with the registration sites” camp.

There’s also free downloadable platform-specific (Win, Mac, Android, iOS, etc.) software that I guess do the same thing. I wouldn’t know, since I prefer to go with the free online services, if available, that pretty much anyone can use.

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