How to Create a QR Code

By  on  

QR codes aren't everyone's cup of tea but I quite like them. If I see something I want to remember or check out later, especially when on the road, it's super easy to take a quick picture -- it's much easier than trying to remember a URL and much faster than typing it in on a tiny keyboard.

If you need to generate QR codes, for a client or yourself, there's a really nice JavaScript project: node-qrcode. Let's look at the different wys and output formats you can use to create a QR code!

Start by installing the library:

yarn add qrcode

Create QR Code Image Data

With the QR code utility available, you can generate a data URI for the QR code which you can use with an <img> element:

const generateQR = async text => {
  try {
    console.log(await QRCode.toDataURL(text))
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err)
  }
}

generateQR("https://davidwalsh.name");

/*
data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAIQAAACECAYAAABRRIOnAAAAAklEQVR4AewaftIAAAOMSURBVO3BQY7kRgADwWSh///l9B584EmAIPV41mBE/IOZfx1mymGmHGbKYaYcZsphphxmymGmHGbKYaYcZsphphxmymGmHGbKh4eS8JNUWhKayh1JaCotCU3ljiT8JJUnDjPlMFMOM+XDy1TelIQ7ktBUrqi0JNyRhKZyReVNSXjTYaYcZsphpnz4siTcofKbqHxTEu5Q+abDTDnMlMNM+fCXU2lJaEloKnckoak0lf+Tw0w5zJTDTPnwl0vCFZWWhKbyRBKayt/sMFMOM+UwUz58mco3qVxJQlP5TVR+k8NMOcyUw0z58LIk/KQkNJU7ktBUWhLelITf7DBTDjPlMFM+PKTyX1JpSWgqdyThTSp/k8NMOcyUw0z58FASmsqVJPykJDSVKyotCXckoalcSUJTaUm4Q+WJw0w5zJTDTIl/8EVJuKLSktBUnkhCU2lJeELljiS8SeVNh5lymCmHmRL/4Acl4YpKS0JTuSMJTeVKEppKS8ITKi0JV1SuJKGpPHGYKYeZcpgp8Q9elIQrKi0JV1RaEppKS0JT+aYkNJWWhCsqLQlPqDxxmCmHmXKYKR8eSkJTuUOlJaEl4Q6VloSm0pLQVK4k4ZtU7kjCmw4z5TBTDjMl/sEDSXhC5Y4kXFFpSWgqV5LwJpUrSWgqV5LQVN50mCmHmXKYKR++TOWOJHxTEu5QaUloKi0JLQlN5UoS7khCU3niMFMOM+UwUz68TKUloam0JDSVK0m4Q6Uloam8SeVKEppKS8IVlZaENx1mymGmHGZK/IMHktBUWhKuqFxJwhMqdyShqbQkfJNKS8IVlTcdZsphphxmyoeHVK6oPKFyJQlN5UoSvknljiT8JoeZcpgph5ny4aEk/CSVK0m4Q6Ul4YpKS8KVJDSVO1SuJKGpPHGYKYeZcpgpH16m8qYkvEmlJeGOJNyh8qYkNJU3HWbKYaYcZsqHL0vCHSpPqLQk3KHSknBHEn5SEprKE4eZcpgph5ny4X9O5YrKHSotCXeo/GaHmXKYKYeZ8uEvp9KS0FSuJKGpNJUrKi0JTeVKEn6Tw0w5zJTDTPnwZSr/pSQ0laZyJQlN5YkkXFFpSfhJh5lymCmHmfLhZUn4SUm4onIlCU8koam0JDSVK0loKleS8KbDTDnMlMNMiX8w86/DTDnMlMNMOcyUw0w5zJTDTDnMlMNMOcyUw0w5zJTDTDnMlMNM+Qeve5EOUrEhtwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==
*/

Create a QR Code in Terminal

If you want to see the QR code in the terminal via Node.js, you can do so by passing a config object:

const generateQR = async text => {
  try {
    console.log(await QRCode.toString(text, {type: 'terminal'}))
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err)
  }
}

Create a QR Code Image

You can generate a PNG, SVG, or UTF8 image for the QR code:

const generateQR = async text => {
  try {
    await QRCode.toFile('./davidwash-qr-code.png', text);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err)
  }
}

Create a QR Code on Canvas

If you use a utility like Browserify and webpack, you can use qrcode on the client side:

var canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
const generateQR = async text => {
  try {
    await QRCode.toCanvas(canvas, text)
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err)
  }
}

generateQR("https://davidwalsh.name");

This awesome QR code library also allows you to create much more than I've shown here, including binary data and with a variety of options. If you need to create a QR code, look no further than node-qr code!

Recent Features

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Disable Autocomplete, Autocapitalize, and Autocorrect

    Mobile and desktop browser vendors do their best to help us not look like idiots by providing us autocomplete, autocorrect, and autocapitalize features.  Unfortunately these features can sometimes get in the way;  we don't always want or need the help they provide.  Luckily most browsers allow...

  • By
    Modal-Style Text Selection with Fokus

    Every once in a while I find a tiny JavaScript library that does something very specific, very well.  My latest find, Fokus, is a utility that listens for text selection within the page, and when such an event occurs, shows a beautiful modal dialog in...

Discussion

  1. Daniel Morales Lira

    I thought you were going to show how to do it without libraries :(

  2. Any library for creating QR code in ReactJS ?

  3. root

    is it a link of a QRcode

    generateQR("https://davidwalsh.name");
    

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!