The
QRickit QR Code API allows you to dynamically generate and display
QR Codes on your website and other online applications.
QR Code images generated are intended for computer/device screens and home-quality printing (96 dpi only). To generate a high-res QR Code, use the QRickit QR Code Creators, not this API.
If
you use this API, QRickit would be happy if you link back to https://QRickit.com
and recommend QRickit to your users, friends and colleagues. You can also follow, share and comment at the
QRickit blog, Facebook and Twitter.
This
API is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. QRickit and its developers,
staff, owners, executives, and partners are not responsible for any loss or damage
incurred through the use of this API. The functionality and/or uninterrupted
availability of this API is not guaranteed. QRickit reserves the right
to reject API requests, especially in regards to abuse or malicious use.
QR Code images are generated automatically in real-time when a request is made unless an error has occurred (blank or error message is output). No QR Code data or personal info is saved on our servers or any storage device/media but we may track IP address or referrer to prevent abuse of our free web service.
How
to Use the QRickit QR Code QReator API
Specify the data (d) that you want the QR Code to hold. This data (d) will tell the QR Code reader how to process the QR Code. There are several types of data you can specify. The most common is a URL (i.e. when scanned, the user can open/view a URL). Other types of data may be email, contact info or calendar event/alert/reminder. You can see the examples below for data (d) formats that you can use.
A successful API call will return raw image data. PNG image is default. JPG and GIF image can be specified (see below).
PARAMETERS / SETTINGS
Data:
only "d" is
required. This is the data that the QR Code will hold. The other parameters are optional image effects.
Example:
d=https://QRickit.com (when scanned, mobile users
can go to any URL you specify) Example:
d=TEL:5551231234
(when scanned, mobile users can add your TEL# to their contacts and dial number) Example:
d=MAILTO:me@qrickit.com
(when scanned, mobile users can add your EMAIL address to their contacts and send
email) Example:
d=SMSTO:5551231234:anytext
(when scanned, mobile users can add your SMS# to their contacts and send SMS message) Example:
d=<?php echo
urlencode($yourdata);?>
(example using PHP to specify "d")
You can use vCard or iCal data formats for contact info and calendar event/alert/reminder QR Codes. (See examples below)
*For non-English and special characters, URL encode
your data first.
*It is best to keep the data short.
If possible use a URL shortener like Bitly, Tiny URL, etc. especially if your URL is over 100 characters long. *For tips on using the
right URL data click here.
Below
are optional image effect parameters for footer text, colors,
size, file type, etc.
Footer Text:
addtext=Any text about 15 to 35 characters maximum depending on
the size of your QR Code. In cases where data is very large, text will not fit and should not be used.
Text can be URL Encoded
to avoid problems with special characters.
Example: addtext=Hello+World Example:
addtext=<?php
echo urlencode($yourtext);?>
Footer Text Color: txtcolor=The color of your footer text expressed in HTML
Hex# (i.e. FFFFFF for white, 000000 for black, etc.). If nothing is specified,
the default is black (000000). Example: txtcolor=FF0000
(click icon to find the HTML Hex# for your color)
Logo Text: logotext=Any text about 15 to 35 characters maximum depending on
the size of your QR Code. In cases where data is very large, text will not fit and should not be used. Text can be URL Encoded to avoid problems with special characters.
QR
Code Color: fgdcolor=The color of your QR Code expressed in HTML Hex# (i.e.
FFFFFF for white, 000000 for black, etc.). If nothing is specified, the default
is black (000000). Example: fgdcolor=000000
(click icon to find the HTML Hex# for your color)
Background
Color: bgdcolor=The color of the background expressed in HTML Hex# (i.e. FFFFFF
for white, 000000 for black, etc.). If nothing is specified, the default is white
(FFFFFF). Example: bgdcolor=FFFFFF
(click icon to find the HTML Hex# for your color)
Image Size:
qrsize=The image size expressed in pixels for one side only.
Since it is square you don't have to specify the other side. Only
numbers from 80 to 1480 inclusive are valid. If nothing is specified,
the default is 150 (i.e. an image with a width of 150 pixels and
a height of 150 pixels).
Example: qrsize=150
Image File
Type: t=The type of image file to generate. The choices are
PNG, JPEG or GIF file types represented as p, j and g respectively.
If nothing is specified, the default is a PNG file type.
Example: t=p
(for PNG file type)
Example: t=j
(for JPEG file type)
Example:
t=g
(for GIF file type)
Error Correction:
e=The level of error correction capability. The choices are Level L (Low) 7%, Level
M (Medium) 15%, Level Q (Quartile) 25%, and Level H (High) 30% represented
as l, m, q, and h respectively. If nothing is specified, the default
error correction level is M (Medium).
Example: e=l
(Low 7%)
Example: e=m
(Medium 15%)
Example: e=q
(Quartile 25%)
Example: e=h
(High 30%)
*In short, error correction means the amount of data that can be restored if the QR Code is damaged (or partially hidden) so that it is still readable. However, the higher the error correction, the less data the QR Code can store. If you don't have a lot of data, you can select a high error correction. For most cases, M (Medium) is sufficient.
*If you customize the colors, test to see that your color combinations
are compatible with QR Code readers. There should be enough contrast
between the background and QR Code colors.
Tips on how to use the QRickit API to create different types of QR Codes
Example: How to create QR Code for Contact Info (vCard)
Test it with various devices and QR Code readers to confirm it is working the way you intended.
Right click (or CTRL-click, Hold-click) on the QR Code image created and copy the image's URL.
Paste this in your text editor, etc.
You can see the format for your data (i.e. everything after "d=" and before the optional image effect parameters "&...") to use for the QRickit API.
Please note that although most good QR Code reader apps can properly read and decode QR Codes with contact data, there are a few low-quality ones that cannot. Test your QR Code carefully with various devices before deploying or distributing.
Example format for QR Code for Contact Info (vCard) Click here to view QR Code in web browser
* you can see the format (code) in the browser's url bar or right/hold click on QR Code image to copy the image URL (code)
The above example QR Code containts the following contact (vCard) data:
Name: John Doe
Company/Organization: ABC Co.
Title/Role: President
Email: johndoe@email.com
Mobile: 555-555-5555
Work: 555-123-1234
Note: Test
Website: www.abc.com
Address: Suite 451 Main St., Miami, Florida., 123456, USA
Red is sample data (i.e. the parts you can change or leave empty).
Since we should urlencode the data, use + or %20 for space, %3b for a semicolon to separate things like last name and first name or address lines, %40 for @ symbol in email address. (online
url encoder) (online
url decoder)
For more detailed info about the vCard format, click here..
Example: How to create QR Code for Calendar Event/Alert/Reminder
* This QR Code example is not compatible with the default calendar app (Google Calendar) on Android devices. For Android devices, simply create a calendar event in your Google Calendar account and copy the share link. Then use this link (URL) as the data (i.e. d=URL).
Test it with various devices and QR Code readers to confirm it is working the way you intended.
Right click (or CTRL-click, Hold-click) on the QR Code image created and copy the image's URL.
Paste this in your text editor, etc.
You can see the format for your data (i.e. everything after "d=" and before the optional image effect parameters "&...") to use for the QRickit API.
Please note that not all QR Code reader apps can properly read and decode QR Codes with calendar event data. QR Codes with too much data will also be harder to read and decode for QR Code reader apps. Test your QR Code carefully with various devices before deploying or distributing.
Example format for QR Code for Calendar Event/Reminder Click here to view QR Code in web browser
* you can see the format (code) in the browser's url bar or right/hold click on QR Code image to copy the image URL (code)
The above example QR Code containts the following event data:
Event Name: Sales Meeting
Event Location: ABC Office
URL: https://QRickit.com
Event Start Date/Time: March 1, 2022 at 9:00AM
Event End Date/Time: March 1, 2022 at 10:00AM
Repeat: Every Month
Number of Occurrences of Recurring Event: 5
Red is sample data (i.e. the parts you can change or leave empty).
Since we should urlencode the data, use + or %20 for space. (online
url encoder) (online
url decoder)
It is not necessary to add data for all parameters.
In the above example, the event start date/time is March 1, 2022 at 9:00AM =202200301T090000
In the above example, the event end date/time is March 1, 2022 at 10:00AM =202200301T120000
Use the format YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS when specifying date/time.
In the above example, there is a display reminder (alert/alarm) set to 1 hour before the event. (TRIGGER=-PT1H)
In the above example, the event repeats monthly (FREQ=MONTHLY%3BINTERVAL=1) up to 5 times (COUNT=5)
You can use PHP, etc. to specify parameters. For example, you can use PHP Date to specify the current date as the start and end date of the event, as well as setting future alerts/reminders (i.e. PHP Date + 6 months, etc.).
For more detailed info about this calendar format, click here.
In the above example, the event repeats monthly. Leave out FREQ if repeating event is not required.
FREQ = Frequency of repeating event.
If you want a repeating event use the following format after FREQ=
Daily: DAILY
Every Day: DAILY%3BINTERVAL=1
Every 2 Days: DAILY%3BINTERVAL=2
Every 3 Days: DAILY%3BINTERVAL=3
etc.
Weekly: WEEKLY
Every Week: WEEKLY%3BINTERVAL=1
Every 2 Weeks: WEEKLY%3BINTERVAL=2
Every 3 Weeks: WEEKLY%3BINTERVAL=3
etc.
Monthly: MONTHLY
Every Month: MONTHLY%3BINTERVAL=1
Every 2 Months: MONTHLY%3BINTERVAL=2
Every 3 Months: MONTHLY%3BINTERVAL=3
etc.
Yearly: YEARLY
Every Year: YEARLY%3BINTERVAL=1
Every 2 Years: YEARLY%3BINTERVAL=2
Every 3 Years: YEARLY%3BINTERVAL=3
etc.
If you want to specify "the first Monday of every month", use %3BBDAY=1MO before %0D%0AEND
1=first ___day of the month
2=second ___day of the month
3=third ___day of the month
4=fourth ___day of the month
-1=last ___day of the month
Examples:
%3BBDAY=1MO first Monday of the month
%3BBDAY=2SA second Saturday of the month
%3BBDAY=-1TH last Thursday of the month
The recurring event will occur indefinitely unless you specify COUNT or UNTIL.
COUNT=5 means the event will occur 5 times in total
UNTIL=20221201T120000 means the event will stop recurring on December 1, 2022 12:00PM
Use the format YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS when specifying date/time.
QR Code ® is a registered trademark of
DENSO WAVE INC.
in JAPAN and other countries.
QRickt is a free online service provided by JICS
MEDIA to promote the understanding and use of QR Codes around the world.