How Do You Laser Engrave a QR Code That Scans?
Make the code below, tick Transparent background, and download the SVG. In LightBurn or your laser's software, put it on a Fill layer, keep each module at least 0.5 mm wide, and check which way your material marks: wood engraves dark, but anodised aluminium, slate and glass engrave light, and those need the background engraved instead of the code.
Opens in Google Maps. Coordinates work too - "37.4224, -122.0841".
The code opens your business's "Write a review" form. Paste the Place ID, or a Google Maps link that carries one.
A UPI link carries no checksum, so a mistyped ID produces a code that scans perfectly and pays somebody else. Paste the ID from your payment app rather than typing it, and send yourself one rupee before printing.
Paste it exactly as copied. KoloQR does not assemble the payload - it encodes the one your bank issued, and checks it before you print it.
SVG, PNG, JPG • Max 2 MB
$9 $4 / month
55% off for early supporters
Dynamic QR Codes Are Coming
Change your link anytime, even after printing. See who scans, when and where.
- Edit without reprinting
- Scan analytics
- Bulk & custom domains
You're on the List
We'll email you once, when dynamic codes with scan analytics launch.
What Size Should a Laser-Engraved QR Code Be?
Engrave a QR code at 2 cm or wider for a phone to read at arm's length, and keep every module at least 0.5 mm wide, the floor OMTech gives for laser-engraved codes. A short link in a 25-module code plus its 4-module quiet zone is 33 modules across, so 2 cm gives 0.6 mm modules and leaves room for burn spread.
- A Module Must Be Several Laser Spots Wide - a focused CO2 beam on a 2-inch lens is about 0.10 to 0.18 mm across, according to Epilog, and a 10 W Creality Falcon diode is 0.06 × 0.08 mm. A 0.5 mm module is three to eight spots wide, which is what lets its edges come out square instead of rounded.
- Burn Spread Makes Dark Modules Grow - on wood and leather the char runs past the beam, so engraved modules come out slightly larger than drawn and the light gaps between them shrink. That matters most at 0.5 mm; at 1 mm per module the same spread is a rounding error.
- The Payload Sets the Module Count - every extra character in the link adds modules, and on a fixed-size tag that means smaller ones. A bare domain fits the smallest 21-module code; a long tracking URL can need 33 modules or more. See QR code capacity for the steps.
- Reading Distance Still Applies - a code read from across a room needs roughly 1 cm of width per 10 cm of distance, engraved or printed. A plaque on a wall read from 1.5 m needs about 15 cm - the minimum size guide has the full table.
Pet tags and keyrings are the tight case on this page. A 25 mm round tag has about 18 mm of usable square in its middle, which holds a 21-module code at 0.6 mm per module only if the link is very short - a bare domain or a short path on your own site, not a profile URL with parameters.
Generate QR CodeWhat People Laser Engrave QR Codes On
An engraved code cannot be reprinted, so it goes on things meant to last - and should point at a link that will last as long as the object.
Pet Tags and ID Tags
A code on a collar tag that opens the owner's contact page. Point it at a page you can edit, so a new phone number does not mean a new tag.
Wooden and Metal Business Cards
Engraved cards are kept rather than binned. Link to a contact page or portfolio on your own domain rather than to a profile you might abandon.
Memorial Plaques and Headstones
A code that opens a life story or photo page. This is the clearest case for a link you control for decades: a page on a service that may close is a risk carved into stone.
Equipment and Asset Plates
Anodised aluminium data plates that open the manual, the service log or the warranty page for that machine - the industrial use of the same technique.
Products You Make and Sell
A cutting board, a tumbler or a piece of furniture with a small maker's mark that opens care instructions or a reorder page.
Wi-Fi Signs and Coasters
A wooden sign or coaster that joins the guest network on scan. Engrave it only if the network name and password will not change.
How to Laser Engrave a QR Code
Six steps from a link to a scannable engraving. Steps 4 and 5 are where most first attempts go wrong.
Generate QR Code- 1
Shorten the Link
Use the shortest URL that will still work in ten years, ideally a short path on your own domain. Fewer characters means fewer, larger modules on the same tag.
- 2
Make the Code With a Transparent Background
Build the code in the generator above, keep the square module style, and tick Transparent background in the Colors tab. The exported SVG then holds only the dark modules, with no background shape for the laser to engrave.
- 3
Download the SVG
SVG is vector, so LightBurn, xTool Creative Space and Glowforge import it at any size without blurring. Use PNG only if your software cannot open SVG.
- 4
Set the Layer to Fill, Not Line
In LightBurn, a Line layer traces each module's outline and leaves the inside untouched. Put the code on a Fill layer, scale it to size, and keep the quiet zone clear of other artwork.
- 5
Engrave the Background on Light-Marking Materials
If the material marks lighter than its surface - anodised aluminium, slate, glass, powder coat - draw a square 4 modules larger than the code on every side, on the same Fill layer. LightBurn then engraves the background and leaves the modules dark.
- 6
Test on Scrap and Scan It
Engrave one code on an offcut of the same material, clean off the smoke residue, and scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone before engraving the real piece.
How Each Material Engraves a QR Code
The material decides whether the engraved mark is darker or lighter than the surface, and a QR code only reads reliably when its modules are the dark part. Wood and fiber-annealed steel mark dark, so engrave the modules. Anodised aluminium, slate, glass and powder-coated steel mark light, so engrave the background and leave the modules untouched.
- Wood Engraves Dark - engrave the modules. Light, fine-grained woods such as maple and birch ply give the strongest contrast; dark woods and heavy grain reduce it. Sand before engraving and wipe the smoke residue off afterwards.
- Anodised Aluminium Engraves White - a CO2 laser bleaches the dye out of the anodised layer, leaving a white mark on a coloured or black plate. Engrave the background, so the dark modules are the untouched anodising.
- Slate and Powder Coat Engrave Light - slate goes pale grey to white, and a powder-coated tumbler engraves through to bright steel. Treat both like anodised aluminium. On a tumbler, use a rotary attachment and keep the code on the flattest part of the curve.
- Glass and Clear Acrylic Frost White - a CO2 laser frosts the surface, and a blue diode laser passes straight through clear material without marking it. Engrave the back with a mirrored design and fill the engraving with dark paint, or put the code on an opaque panel.
- Stainless Steel Depends on the Laser - a fiber laser can anneal stainless steel black without cutting into it, which gives a dark code you engrave directly. A CO2 laser needs a marking compound such as CerMark sprayed on first.
Light-marking materials produce an inverted code if you engrave the modules - light modules on a dark surface. Some phones read inverted codes and some decoders refuse them, so engrave the background instead. Inverted QR codes explains which readers cope and why a dark-on-light result is the safe one.
Generate QR CodeBefore You Engrave the Real Piece
An engraving cannot be undone, and the blank is often the expensive part. These checks take five minutes on scrap.
Run a Material Test First
Engrave a small grid of power and speed settings on an offcut. The best setting for a QR code is the one with the sharpest module edges, not the deepest burn.
Keep Scan Lines Tight
Set the Fill line interval so the scan lines just touch. As a rule of thumb, aim for at least five scan lines per module: a 0.1 mm interval (254 DPI) on a 0.5 mm module.
Use Square Modules for Small Codes
Dots and thin rounded styles shrink the marked area of each module. Below about 1 mm per module, keep the square style so burn spread has something solid to work with.
Leave the Quiet Zone Clean
Four modules of unmarked surface on every side. Text, borders and the edge of the tag must stay outside it, or the scanner cannot find where the code begins.
Link to a URL You Control
An engraved code is permanent. Point it at a page on your own domain, so the destination can change without the object becoming scrap.
Scan the Engraving, Not the File
A code that scans on screen proves the data is right, not that the engraving is. Scan the cleaned test piece, under the light where the object will live.
Questions? Answered
SVG. It is vector, so the laser software engraves clean square modules at any size, and each module arrives as a closed shape a Fill layer can engrave. A PNG works in Image mode, but it has a fixed resolution and can blur at the edges when scaled. Export it with a transparent background so only the modules are in the file.
The layer is set to Line. Line mode traces the outline of every shape, so a QR code comes out as hundreds of empty squares. Change the layer to Fill and LightBurn engraves the inside of each module instead. Fill only works on closed shapes, which an SVG exported from a QR generator already has.
The SVG still contains its background rectangle, and the laser engraved it along with the modules. Delete that shape in your laser software, or export again with Transparent background ticked so the file contains only the dark modules.
Yes, if you engrave the background rather than the modules. A CO2 laser leaves a white mark on anodised aluminium, so engraving the modules gives light modules on a dark plate, which some readers refuse. Engrave a square around the code on the same Fill layer, and the untouched black modules sit on a white field.
About 2 cm for a code people scan with a phone, with each module at least 0.5 mm wide. A laser can mark finer detail than that, but a phone camera at arm's length cannot read much smaller, and burn spread closes the gaps between very small modules. Shorten the link before shrinking the code, and keep the four-module quiet zone unmarked.
Not directly. Blue diode light passes through clear materials without marking them. Coat the surface with marking spray or paint and engrave through that, or use a CO2 laser, which frosts glass and acrylic white - then fill the engraving with dark paint so the code has contrast.
Yes. Since version 1.7, LightBurn's Create Bar Code tool makes QR codes, Micro QR, Data Matrix and other symbols, with an error correction setting. xTool Creative Space has a code generator too. Use a separate generator such as KoloQR when you want custom colours, a logo, a non-square shape or the same file for print and engraving.
Static, pointing at a URL you own. A static code holds the link itself and never expires; a dynamic code depends on a redirect service staying in business for as long as the engraving exists. If the destination may change, link to a page on your own domain and change the page, not the code.
Keep Exploring
Pages that pick up where this one leaves off - the same setting, the same kind of code, or the next thing worth deciding.
Beauty Salons
Rebooking at the chair, per-service aftercare and a portfolio per stylist, with codes that survive acetone, colour and hairspray.
Photographers
Client galleries, print reorders, portfolio links and guest photo uploads, on cards, albums, prints and event signs.
Branded QR Codes
Match QR codes to your brand with a logo, colors, and custom shapes - without sacrificing scannability.
Aesthetic QR Codes
Soft palettes, rounded modules and minimal layouts for invitations, bios, planners and packaging - with the contrast and size numbers that keep each one scanning.
Amazon QR Code
Take a scan straight to a product page, a storefront, or a wish list.
Product Packaging
What a code on a carton, pouch, label or bottle has to survive - sizes, finishes that kill a scan, and what the scan should open.
Why KoloQR?
- Create QR codes for websites, menus, Wi-Fi, PDFs, and business cards
- Customize colors, logos, and unique shapes
- Download high-quality PNG and SVG files
- Built for both print and digital
