Looking for the product, not the how-to? See our digital business card with lead capture — a Pro+ feature where the scan opens a hosted mobile profile and the scanner can send their details back to your dashboard.
How big should the QR be on a business card?
The honest minimum is 1.5 cm (about 0.6 in) across the printed code, measured edge to edge of the data squares — not including the quiet zone. At that size a modern phone camera locks on in under a second from a comfortable reading distance. Below 1.5 cm you start needing perfect light and a steady hand; below 1.2 cm scans turn into a coin flip. If your card is the standard 85 × 55 mm, plan for the QR to take roughly a third of one side and leave the rest of that side blank.
Where to place it
On the back, aligned to a corner or centered, with a quiet zone of white around it equal to about a fifth of its width. The front of the card belongs to your name and title — a QR code on the front competes for attention and makes the card feel cluttered. If the back has to carry other content (a tagline, a second phone number), give the QR its own third and keep that third visually empty around it.
Static or dynamic — for a card specifically
Business cards are different from posters: a poster is up for a season, a card lives in someone's wallet for years. The lifespan tilts the decision firmly toward dynamic. A static code is fine for an event-only card you will not reorder. For anything you plan to hand out across a job change, a portfolio rebuild, or a new LinkedIn URL, dynamic pays back its cost the first time you update without reprinting. The static vs dynamic comparison breaks down the trade-offs in detail.
Production mistakes that kill scans
Letterpress, deep embossing, and foiling look incredible — and crush scan reliability. The data squares need crisp edges and even ink. If you love texture, keep the QR in the flat, regular-ink area and reserve the treatment for your name. Avoid placing the code over gradients or photographic backgrounds; the contrast drops below what most camera decoders expect. On gloss stock, test under bright light — glare can wipe out a corner finder pattern entirely. Matte stocks are the safest default.