Business cards people save to contacts
Your card goes in a pocket, your contact goes in their phone. One scan saves you before the card is put away.
To make a business card people save, add a QR code that holds your contact as a vCard. One scan opens the phone's new-contact screen with your name, company, number, e-mail and website filled in, and one tap saves it. Fill in your details above, check the preview and download a vector file for your printer.
Saved before the card is put away
They scan the back of your card while you talk. Your contact is in their phone before the meeting ends.
How to put a save-me code on your card
Enter the details people use
Name, company, role, one phone number, one e-mail and your website. Every extra field makes the code denser, so leave out what nobody will call or write to.
Use international formats
Write the number with its country code, such as +44 or +1, so the saved contact dials correctly from any phone in any country.
Scan the preview with two phones
Check an iPhone and an Android phone if you can. Both should open a contact screen with every field in the right place.
Download a vector file
SVG, PDF or EPS stay sharp at any size, which is what print shops ask for. Leave a quiet margin of plain card around the code.
Worked example: a freelance designer's card
- The front stays clean
- Name, role and logo go on the front. The back carries the contact code at 2 cm with the line "Scan to save my details".
- Six fields, no more
- Name, studio, role, mobile, e-mail and website. That keeps the code coarse enough to scan in a dim meeting room or a busy trade-fair hall.
- What happens at an event
- A new client scans the card while still talking, taps save, and the designer is in their phone with the studio's website one tap away.
Fixed or editable for a contact code?
-
Fixed QR code (static)
A fixed vCard code stores your details in the printed pattern itself and works offline, on any phone, for as long as the card exists. It is free and the right choice when your number and e-mail are stable.
-
Editable QR code (dynamic)
An editable code points to your details instead of holding them, so you can change a number or job title after the cards are printed, and it counts scans per batch. From $9 a month after the 14-day trial. It stops forwarding when the plan ends, with warnings first.
Layout tips for contact codes on cards
2 cm is a comfortable minimum
On a standard card, a code of about 2 cm scans at arm's length. The print check under the preview gives the smallest size your exact code prints well at.
Say what the code does
"Scan to save my details" beats a code on its own. People scan when they know what they get.
Protect the contrast
Dark code on a light background. Metallic inks, spot gloss and heavily textured stock over the code are the usual reasons a card fails to scan.
Questions and answers
Before you print
- Is it free?
- Fixed codes are free: make as many as you like, download a PNG with no sign-up, and get every other format and print files with a free account. Editable codes come with a plan, a pass, Keep-alive or the 14-day trial.
- Can I change the link after printing?
- Yes, with an editable code. It holds a short link you control, so you can point the printed code somewhere new any time, and the next scan opens the new page. A fixed code keeps the link it was made with.
- Can I use my own domain?
- Yes. A custom domain is included on passes, from Starter, and during the trial. Starter covers one subdomain, for example go.yourbrand.com, and apex domains start on Pro.
- What happens if I stop paying?
- Editable codes work to the end of your paid period, and after a failed payment every code keeps working for 14 days. Turn codes back on within 12 months. Fixed codes keep working as long as their links do.
Do people need an app to save the contact?
Current iPhones and Android phones need none: the camera reads the code and offers to add the contact. Some older phones need a scanner app, which is why a printed e-mail address next to the code still helps.
Which details should go into the code?
The ones someone will use to reach you: name, company, one phone number, one e-mail and a website. A street address and several numbers make the code denser and harder to read on a small card.
Can I change my details after the cards are printed?
Only with an editable code. A fixed vCard code holds the details in the pattern, so a new number means new cards. An editable code points to your details, and you change them in the app.
Will the code work on a dark or coloured card?
Yes, as long as the code itself is dark on a light area. Print a white panel behind it on dark stock. Inverted codes, light on dark, fail on some phones, so avoid them.
Is a contact code better than a link to my website?
For networking, yes: it puts you in the phone's contacts, where people look when they want to call. A website link is better when people should see your work first, and the website can sit inside the contact as well.
Get saved in their contacts
Enter your details, check the preview and download a print-ready contact code for your next batch of cards.