qrcode 7.4

What is a QR Code?

A Quick Response code is a two-dimensional pictographic code used for its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols)

Usage

From the command line, use the installed qr script:

qr "Some text" > test.png

Or in Python, use the make shortcut function:

import qrcode
img = qrcode.make('Some data here')
type(img)  # qrcode.image.pil.PilImage
img.save("some_file.png")

import qrcode
qr = qrcode.QRCode(
    version=1,
    error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_L,
    box_size=10,
    border=4,
)
qr.add_data('Some data')
qr.make(fit=True)

img = qr.make_image(fill_color="black", back_color="white")

img = qr.make_image(back_color=(255, 195, 235), fill_color=(55, 95, 35))

Other image factories

You can encode as SVG, or use a new pure Python image processor to encode to PNG images.

The Python examples below use the make shortcut. The same image_factory keyword argument is a valid option for the QRCode class for more advanced usage.

qr --factory=svg-path "Some text" > test.svg
qr --factory=svg "Some text" > test.svg
qr --factory=svg-fragment "Some text" > test.svg

import qrcode
import qrcode.image.svg

if method == 'basic':
    # Simple factory, just a set of rects.
    factory = qrcode.image.svg.SvgImage
elif method == 'fragment':
    # Fragment factory (also just a set of rects)
    factory = qrcode.image.svg.SvgFragmentImage
else:
    # Combined path factory, fixes white space that may occur when zooming
    factory = qrcode.image.svg.SvgPathImage

img = qrcode.make('Some data here', image_factory=factory)

qrcode.image.svg.SvgFillImage
qrcode.image.svg.SvgPathFillImage

import qrcode
qr = qrcode.QRCode(image_factory=qrcode.image.svg.SvgPathImage)
qr.add_data('Some data')
qr.make(fit=True)

img = qr.make_image(attrib={'class': 'some-css-class'})

img.to_string(encoding='unicode')

qr --factory=png "Some text" > test.png

import qrcode
from qrcode.image.pure import PyPNGImage
img = qrcode.make('Some data here', image_factory=PyPNGImage)

import qrcode
from qrcode.image.styledpil import StyledPilImage
from qrcode.image.styles.moduledrawers.pil import RoundedModuleDrawer
from qrcode.image.styles.colormasks import RadialGradiantColorMask

qr = qrcode.QRCode(error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_L)
qr.add_data('Some data')

img_1 = qr.make_image(image_factory=StyledPilImage, module_drawer=RoundedModuleDrawer())
img_2 = qr.make_image(image_factory=StyledPilImage, color_mask=RadialGradiantColorMask())
img_3 = qr.make_image(image_factory=StyledPilImage, embeded_image_path="/path/to/image.png")

Examples

Get the text content from print_ascii:

import io
import qrcode
qr = qrcode.QRCode()
qr.add_data("Some text")
f = io.StringIO()
qr.print_ascii(out=f)
f.seek(0)
print(f.read())

The add_data method will append data to the current QR object. To add new data by replacing previous content in the same object, first use clear method:

import qrcode
qr = qrcode.QRCode()
qr.add_data('Some data')
img = qr.make_image()
qr.clear()
qr.add_data('New data')
other_img = qr.make_image()

Pipe ascii output to text file in command line:

qr --ascii "Some data" > "test.txt"
cat test.txt

Alternative to piping output to file to avoid PowerShell issues:

# qr "Some data" > test.png
qr --output=test.png "Some data"

7.4 (1 February 2023)

• Restructure the factory drawers, allowing different shapes in SVG image factories as well.

• Add a --factory-drawer option to the qr console script.

• Optimize the output for the SVGPathImage factory (more than 30% reduction in file sizes).

• Add a pypng image factory as a pure Python PNG solution. If pillow is not installed, then this becomes the default factory.

• The pymaging image factory has been removed, but its factory shortcut and the actual PymagingImage factory class now just link to the PyPNGImage factory.

7.3.1 (1 October 2021)

• Improvements for embedded image.

7.3 (19 August 2021)

• Skip color mask if QR is black and white

7.2 (19 July 2021)

• Add Styled PIL image factory, allowing different color masks and shapes in QR codes

• Small performance inprovement

• Add check for border size parameter

7.1 (1 July 2021)

• Add –ascii parameter to command line interface allowing to output ascii when stdout is piped

• Add –output parameter to command line interface to specify output file

• Accept RGB tuples in fill_color and back_color

• Add to_string method to SVG images

• Replace inline styles with SVG attributes to avoid CSP issues

• Add Python3.10 to supported versions

7.0 (29 June 2021)

• Drop Python < 3.6 support.

6.1 (14 January 2019)

• Fix short chunks of data not being optimized to the correct mode.

• Tests fixed for Python 3

6.0 (23 March 2018)

• Fix optimize length being ignored in QRCode.add_data.

• Better calculation of the best mask pattern and related optimizations. Big thanks to cryptogun!

5.3 (18 May 2016)

• Fix incomplete block table for QR version 15. Thanks Rodrigo Queiro for the report and Jacob Welsh for the investigation and fix.

• Avoid unnecessary dependency for non MS platforms, thanks to Noah Vesely.

• Make BaseImage.get_image() actually work.

5.2 (25 Jan 2016)

• Add --error-correction option to qr script.

• Fix script piping to stdout in Python 3 and reading non-UTF-8 characters in Python 3.

• Fix script piping in Windows.

• Add some useful behind-the-curtain methods for tinkerers.

• Fix terminal output when using Python 2.6

• Fix terminal output to display correctly on MS command line.

5.1 (22 Oct 2014)

• Make qr script work in Windows. Thanks Ionel Cristian Mărieș

• Fixed print_ascii function in Python 3.

• Out-of-bounds code version numbers are handled more consistently with a ValueError.

• Much better test coverage (now only officially supporting Python 2.6+)

5.0 (17 Jun 2014)

• Speed optimizations.

• Change the output when using the qr script to use ASCII rather than just colors, better using the terminal real estate.

• Fix a bug in passing bytecode data directly when in Python 3.

• Substation speed optimizations to best-fit algorithm (thanks Jacob Welsh!).

• Introduce a print_ascii method and use it as the default for the qr script rather than print_tty.

4.0 (4 Sep 2013)

• Made qrcode work on Python 2.4 - Thanks tcely. Note: officially, qrcode only supports 2.5+.

• Support pure-python PNG generation (via pymaging) for Python 2.6+ – thanks Adam Wisniewski!

• SVG image generation now supports alternate sizing (the default box size of 10 == 1mm per rectangle).

• SVG path image generation allows cleaner SVG output by combining all QR rects into a single path. Thank you, Viktor Stískala.

• Added some extra simple SVG factories that fill the background white.

3.1 (12 Aug 2013)

• Important fixes for incorrect matches of the alphanumeric encoding mode. Previously, the pattern would match if a single line was alphanumeric only (even if others wern’t). Also, the two characters { and } had snuck in as valid characters. Thanks to Eran Tromer for the report and fix.

• Optimized chunking – if the parts of the data stream can be encoded more efficiently, the data will be split into chunks of the most efficient modes.

3.0 (25 Jun 2013)

• Python 3 support.

• Add QRCode.get_matrix, an easy way to get the matrix array of a QR code including the border. Thanks Hugh Rawlinson.

• Add in a workaround so that Python 2.6 users can use SVG generation (they must install lxml).

• Some initial tests! And tox support (pip install tox) for testing across Python platforms.

2.7 (5 Mar 2013)

• Fix incorrect termination padding.

2.6 (2 Apr 2013)

• Fix the first four columns incorrectly shifted by one. Thanks to Josep Gómez-Suay for the report and fix.

• Fix strings within 4 bits of the QR version limit being incorrectly terminated. Thanks to zhjie231 for the report.

2.5 (12 Mar 2013)

• The PilImage wrapper is more transparent - you can use any methods or attributes available to the underlying PIL Image instance.

• Fixed the first column of the QR Code coming up empty! Thanks to BecoKo.

2.4 (23 Apr 2012)

• Use a pluggable backend system for generating images, thanks to Branko Čibej! Comes with PIL and SVG backends built in.

2.3 (29 Jan 2012)

• When adding data, auto-select the more efficient encoding methods for numbers and alphanumeric data (KANJI still not supported).

2.2 (18 Jan 2012)

• Fixed tty output to work on both white and black backgrounds.

• Added border parameter to allow customizing of the number of boxes used to create the border of the QR code

2.1 (17 Jan 2012)

• Added a qr script which can be used to output a qr code to the tty using background colors, or to a file via a pipe.