Hand Drawn QR Codes (2025)

From the update: "Why are QR Codes with capital letters smaller than QR codes with lower-case letters?" https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/02/why-are-qr-codes-with-capit... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43149077)

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thih9 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> (besides micro QR codes)

In case anyone else is interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectangular_Micro_QR_Code

	▲	Wowfunhappy an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		No, I don't think that's it! That's a "Rectangular Micro QR Code". I think it's this: https://www.qrcode.com/en/codes/microqr.html
	▲	p0se1d0n 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Rectangular Micro QR Codes are not ordinary Micro QR Codes.
	▲	jiehong 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		this makes me wonder if there is an `infinite` version of QR Code that can be streamed from a printer (well, I guess things can be chunked).

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scraft 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I saw similar engraved and then inked onto wooden boards at a restaurant, sadly, despite the error handling, 3 out of 4 I tried were not scannable, the 1 I did manage to scan to me to a reviews site for the restaurant (where a lot of reviews said they struggled to make the QR work - likely not the feedback the restaurant wanted)! I guess it kept me entertained whilst waiting for the bill.

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alexpotato 18 minutes ago | parent [-]

There was a tweet a while back where I guy was riding a train in China and took a photo of the QR code for his seat. He mentioned that you can use the QR code to order food and drinks delivered directly to you.

About 5 minutes later there was another tweet from him where:

- someone saw the original tweet (Guy 2)

- scanned the QR code

- ordered the OP a drink

- added a note to the order saying it was from Guy 2

Always loved this story.

	▲	ButlerianJihad 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		A cautionary tale if your QR Code® is a ticket for the big show, or opens up your HIPAA portal somewhere QR Code® is [sic] registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

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p0se1d0n 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Note that a lovely reader informed me shortly after publication that indeed I can include my full domain name in a version 1 QR code by using all capital letters instead of lowercase. TIL that the "alphanumeric" character set for QR codes actually contains symbols for URLs like : and /.

This is a nice trick worth remembering. I have used it myself in the past. Handy not just for creating ultra small QR codes, but also for getting as much data as possible into the limits of the largest QR codes.

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larsbrinkhoff 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I hand drew this on a whiteboard. It was a lot more work than I anticipated.

http://lars.nocrew.org/tmp/qr.png

	▲	larsbrinkhoff 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		By the way, I also coded a QR symbol generator in PDP-10 assembly language. https://github.com/PDP-10/its/blob/master/src/lars/qrcode.8

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jiehong 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I once sent a letter to a friend with a hand-written QR Code whose content was the typed letter.

It's cool for the receiver, but tedious for the sender (but it's a good way to help with difficult to read cursive).

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jdranczewski 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've really enjoyed reading the Grid World piece linked at the bottom of the post: https://alex.miller.garden/grid-world/

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notTooFarGone 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If someone needs a gift idea:

I used something like this on a large sheet and cut it into pieces for a puzzle gift to a website where people left comments. Nowadays even easier to generate nice temporary websites for such things.

	▲	chrismorgan 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I’m picturing an acrylic version of it, or even some other fancier material. The starter kit: a 21×21 board, with three 8×8 finder patterns, two 1×5 timing patterns, and 120 white and 119 black modules. The Version 2 expansion pack includes a 25×25 board, two 1×4 timing patterns, one 5×5 alignment pattern, 76 white modules and 75 black modules. And so on. (I dunno about the desired ratio of individual black and white modules. I gather the general idea is to balance black and white, but does that include or exclude the fixed parts, where black is somewhat more common? Finder pattern is 33∶31 black∶white, alignment pattern is 17∶8, 1×5 timing pattern is 3∶2, 1×4 timing pattern is 2∶2.)

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xeckr 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I remember retracing QR codes on graph paper to pass time in grade 12 physics, this was back in 2013/2014.

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utopiah 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Ah, I did just that this weekend.

Well... it wasn't QR-code but rather artoolkit markers. Let's just say I'll keep on printing them for a bit.

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bombashell 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

thats fun I would definitely scan this rather than a generated one

	▲	thih9 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Then again, writing the url by hand and using OCR built into the camera app would probably be more practical and user friendly for everyone involved. Although for sure not as fun.

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karel-3d 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

One time I tried to understand the QR algorithm and I didn't understand it at all despite trying multiple times.

Maybe I can try again with the help of LLMs. Hmm not a bad idea

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soblemprolver 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I found this page very helpful in understanding each step of the QR code creation process. I can't say I recall it all but it would be possible to turn this into a small booklet, I guess.

https://typefully.com/DanHollick/qr-codes-T7tLlNi

Here's a HN discussion from 2022 about it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32837565

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Phemist 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Nice! I also found this page very helpful:

https://www.nayuki.io/page/creating-a-qr-code-step-by-step

This is an interactive guide that will break down the process for your specific QR-code.

	▲	mft_ an hour ago \| parent [-]
		That's the best explanation I've seen - thanks for sharing!

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sowpati 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There is also a nice Veritasium video about it, if you prefer that: https://youtu.be/w5ebcowAJD8