A plain black-and-white square on a poster could lead anywhere, and nothing about it tells a stranger who put it there. Placing a brand mark in the center of the pattern answers that before anyone scans: they see whose code it is first.
A QR code with logo works this way for every content type the generator supports, from a website link to WiFi. Upload the image and it sits in the center, with error correction automatically raised so a phone can rebuild the modules the logo covers. Nothing is uploaded to a server for this step, and every finished code is scanned back before download, as a PNG or SVG, for free and with no account.
Adding a logo without breaking the code
Prepare the logo file
Use PNG, JPEG, SVG or WebP, up to 2 MB. A square version of your mark, such as an app icon or monogram, works better than a wide wordmark, which shrinks to nothing in a square space.
Open the design panel and add it
The image appears in the center of the code. Error correction switches to level H and stays there while a logo is present.
Pick colors with contrast
Keep dark modules on a light background. If you use brand colors, the contrast warning tells you when they are too close to scan reliably.
Scan, then download
The generator decodes the code before download, but also test it on your own phone at the real print size. Choose SVG for print.
How a logo in a QR code can cover part of the pattern
QR codes store every message with extra recovery data, so a phone can rebuild what it cannot read. There are four levels: L recovers about 7 percent of the data, M about 15, Q about 25 and H about 30. A logo hides modules on purpose, and the recovery data fills the gap.
The cost is density. Level H needs more modules for the same content, so a code with a logo is busier than one without. Short content leaves more room; a long URL with tracking parameters makes the modules small, so print that code larger.
Custom QR code with logo: design choices that help scanning
Branding goes wrong in predictable ways. These choices keep the code readable while it still looks like yours.
Leave the three corner squares visible
Phones find a code by its three finder patterns. Style them with the corner options, but never let them blend into the background.
Let the logo sit in clear space
The modules behind the logo are hidden, leaving a clean area around it. A logo with a transparent background fits that area better than one on a white box.
Stay dark on light
Light modules on a dark background are not read by every scanner. Keep the modules dark and let the logo carry the brand color.
Use gradients with care
A gradient that fades toward the background color loses contrast at one end. Watch the contrast warning as you adjust it.
Where the logo lives in the file
The logo is not part of the data. The code still contains only your content, such as a web address, and the logo is drawn over its center as part of the image. The logo is embedded in the downloaded file itself rather than linked from a server, so it never depends on a hosted image.
https://northside-bakery.com/Print sizes for codes with a logo
A logo code has smaller modules than a plain code with the same content, so give it a little more room. On a business card, 25 mm is a safe minimum; on packaging, 30 mm; on a poster read from two meters, 20 cm. Print a test at the real size and scan it with an older phone, not only your newest one. Keep a quiet margin of at least four modules around the code.
Print it at least 25 mm (2.5 cm) wide
Where logo codes fail
A wide wordmark squeezed into the center
Text logos become unreadable at that size and add nothing. Use the icon or an initial instead.
Enlarging the logo afterwards
Editing the downloaded file to move or enlarge the logo undoes the balance the generator checked. Scale the whole code, never the logo alone.
Low-contrast brand colors
Pale yellow, light gray and pastel modules fail in dim light. Use the darkest shade in your palette for the modules.
Logo codes and dynamic codes
A logo works on static and dynamic codes alike; it does not change what the code does.
Branded codes tend to end up on expensive print: packaging, signage, vehicle wraps. If the destination might change during the life of that print, make the code dynamic before it goes to the printer. A dynamic code also holds a short link, which keeps the pattern less dense and leaves more room around the logo. Two are free forever with an account.
How dynamic QR codes workLogo codes in the wild
- A craft brewery puts its hop-leaf icon in the code on every can label, linking to the brewing notes.
- A dental practice uses its tooth monogram in the appointment-card code that opens the booking page.
- A university department prints its crest in the code on conference posters.