QR codes are machine readable printed representation of data for various industry uses. It has now become common in consumer advertising. A consumer with a Smartphone can install an app with a QR code scanner that can read and decode the URL information and redirect the phone’s browser to a company website.
After scanning QR codes, users may receive text, add a business card contact to their devices, open a Web hyperlink, or compose an email or text message.
You can now generate and edit high quality independent QR code graphics from within InDesign. The generated QR code is a high-fidelity graphic object that behaves exactly like native vector art in InDesign. You can easily scale the object and fill it with colors. You can also apply effects, transparency, and printing attributes, such as overprinting, spot inks, and trappings to the object. You can copy-paste the code graphic as a vector graphic object into a standard graphics editor tool such as Adobe Illustrator.
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If you have selected a Frame before generating the QR code, the code is placed directly in the selected Frame replacing its content.
If you have not selected a frame, the QR code is loaded on the Place Gun and you can place it just like a traditional EPS object:- Clicking inside the document places the object in its original/default size – 30 X 30 (cm units).
- Clicking into an existing frame places the code inside the frame with default size. (It replaces its existing content if you click in the frame with the Alt key pressed.)
- Click and dragging draws a new frame with fixed aspect ratio and releasing the mouse places the code inside the frame.
Once placed inside a document, the QR code is treated as a traditional EPS object, except that a tooltip appears on hovering over the object, revealing the content details in the form of the embedded code.
The default background of a QR code frame is transparent. However, you can change the Frame’s Fill and Stroke attributes such as the Color, Line Style, and Thickness using the traditional controls.
You can move, resize, or rotate the placed QR code object with the Selection tool. When you drag the frame’s box, only the frame resizes. However, while dragging:
- If you press the Shift key, the aspect ratio of the frame is preserved.
- If you press the Ctrl (on Windows) or Command (on Mac) key, both the frame and the content scales with preserved aspect ratio.
- If you press the Shift plus Alt (on Windows) or Option (on Mac) keys, the frame scales from its center with unpreserved aspect ratio. You can press the Shift key to preserve the aspect ratio.