A photo album can't be squeezed into a QR code's pattern, only its address can, which is exactly enough to hand a whole gallery to a room full of people at once. Wedding guests, a school class, a team back from an offsite, or visitors at an exhibition can each scan the same code instead of keying in an address or waiting for a text with a link.
The code holds the link to an album already shared in Google Photos, iCloud, Dropbox, or a gallery on your own site, which makes it free and permanent for as long as that link stays live. MakeQR does not host photo galleries itself; the pictures stay wherever you already keep them.
How to link a photo album to a QR code
Create a shareable album link
In Google Photos, open the album, tap Share and create a link. On iPhone, open a Shared Album, tap the people icon, turn on Public Website and use Share Link. In Dropbox, share the folder and copy the link.
Open the link in a private window
If it asks for a sign-in, the album is not public, and guests without that account will see nothing.
Paste it into the Link tab
If the generator opened on another type, switch to Link, paste the album address and download. This static code is free.
Print it where the moment happens
Table cards, the photo booth, the back of a printed photo. Add a line saying what people will find and when.
Which photo album link lasts
A static code works for exactly as long as the link inside it, and the services treat links differently.
Google Photos
A shared album link stays live until you stop sharing or delete the album, and viewers do not need a Google account.
iCloud Shared Albums
With Public Website on, anyone can open the album in a browser. Links made with Copy iCloud Link are different: they expire after 30 days, so never print one.
Dropbox or your own site
A Dropbox folder link is good for full-resolution downloads. A gallery page on your own website is the most durable choice of all.
A photo sharing QR code guests can add to
At weddings and parties people often want the reverse: a code guests scan to add their own pictures. Google Photos can let people with the link add photos to a shared album once they sign in, and iCloud Shared Albums let invited subscribers post. Turn that setting on before printing and test it with a friend's phone.
The code only opens the album. Who can view, download or upload is decided by the photo service, not by the QR code.
What the photo QR code contains
Only the album's address. The photos never pass through the code or through MakeQR: the phone opens the link and the photo service shows the album, with its own layout, download options and sign-in rules.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0aGWZuqDGmTnPzWhere to put a photo code at an event
At a wedding, a 5–8 cm code on each table card plus a 15–20 cm sign by the entrance or photo booth. At an exhibition, 3–5 cm beside the work. For class or team photos, print it on the back of the print or on the handout. Say when the photos will be ready, so early scanners know to come back.
Print it at least 30 mm (3.0 cm) wide
Why photo album codes stop working
Printing an expiring link
Temporary iCloud links and file-transfer links die within days or weeks. Use a shared album link that stays up.
A new album for the final edit
If edited photos arrive in a new album, the printed code still opens the old one. Add them to the original album instead.
Deleting the album after the event
Guests scan the table card months later. Keep sharing on for as long as printed codes are around.
Static or dynamic for a photo album?
A static code is right when the album link is stable, such as a Google Photos album you will keep sharing. Choose dynamic when you expect the link to change: the photographer will deliver the final gallery elsewhere, you might move from iCloud to Google, or you want to know how many guests scanned. The printed cards then stay valid. Dynamic codes need a free account, with two free forever.
How dynamic QR codes workMoments people share with a photo code
- A couple puts a code on every wedding table to a Google Photos album guests can add to.
- A school photographer prints the code on the back of class photos so parents can see the full set.
- An artist shows a code beside a painting that opens an album of the work in progress.