QR codes

Subtitles for robots

2019-10-29 — 2025-04-16

Wherein QR Codes Are Described, and Python Libraries Such as PyQRCode and Qrcode Are Indicated for Local Generation, While URL Shorteners Like bit.ly Are Recommended for Click-Through Tracking.

diy
Figure 1

You can find Python libraries like PyQRCode and qrcode. Plenty of subscription services offer add-ons like tracking, but they’re surprisingly expensive and I don’t recommend them. If I want fancy tracking for click-throughs on QR-coded links, I just use bit.ly or another URL shortener/tracker.

Lots of software quietly supports QR codes; for example, the DTP package scribus includes QR codes as one of its supported barcode formats.

Here are some perfectly functional online QR code generators:

There were others but they kept on trying to upsell me to paid plans and ransom me my traffic (looking at you qrstuff.com, wix.com).