SocSci Computing Services Help Pages

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====== How do I create a QR Code? ======

There are many paid sites out there that will create a QR code for you, but if you just want to create a free one that will work forever, you can use the tool linked below:

  * [[https://sites.socsci.uci.edu/~jnilsson/qr-generator.html]]

===== UCI Branding =====

This tool was set up with [[https://brand.uci.edu|UCI Brand]] colors, logos, seals, and monograms.

===== Types of QR Codes =====

With this tool you can create one of these two types of QR Codes:

  * **[[#simple-qr-code|Simple QR code]]** - this directly encodes a text string (such as a link, or an item number, or any other text), Phone cameras can scan this to read the text or open the link in their web browser.
  * **[[#contact-card-qr-code|Contact Card]]** - this encodes a full contact card in the QR code so that when it is scanned, it will pop up the option to add the contact details to the phone's address book or contacts.

==== Simple QR Code ====

{{:howto:wiki-howto-qr-code-simple.png?600|}}

  - Type or Paste the text/URL that you want
  - Press Enter on the keyboard or click the **Generate** button
  - Optionally, select customization options. See [[#customize-appearance|the Customize Appearance section below]].
  - Click **Download PNG** to download the QR code as a PNG image file.

==== Contact Card QR Code ====

{{:howto:wiki-howto-qr-code-contact-vcard.png?600|}}

  - Click on the **Contact Card QR** button to switch modes
  - Enter any contact details that you want to include
    - You need to include at least one of these fields: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone Number
  - Click on **Generate** to create your QR code. 
  - Optionally, select customization options. See [[#customize-appearance|the Customize Appearance section below]].
  - Click **Download PNG** to download the QR code as a PNG image file.

===== Customize Appearance =====

Expand the **Customize Appearance** section. Here you can:
  * change the style of the QR code
  * change the foreground/background colors
    * color swatches are set to use the UCI Brand colors

Any changes are reflected immediately in the QR code preview below.

==== Center Logo ====

Expand the **Center logo** section to add a logo to the QR code. 
  * Note that adding a logo requires the QR code to become larger. It is recommended to leave the Size set to "Auto" to allow it to grow as needed.

You can select from one of the UCI preset logos, or upload your own image.

===== Limitations =====
  * **Contact Card Profile Photo** - this feature is a way to embed an image to use as a contact's profile photo, but it greatly increases the size of the QR code. In practice a QR code can only encode about 2Kb of data, so only very small images can be embedded.
  * **Static QR codes** - This site generates static QR codes and provides no usage details or reports. Paid services often include reports about how many people have used the QR code and their location, which is only possible when using a dynamic QR code with a managed service.