PNG vs SVG QR Codes
PNG is a photograph of your code. SVG is the instructions for drawing it. That single difference decides which one you should use.
The short answer
- Going on a screen? PNG. Websites, slides, email signatures, social posts, digital menus.
- Going to a printer? SVG. Business cards, menus, packaging, signage, anything a professional printer touches.
- Not sure? Download both. They cost nothing and neither expires.
Why it matters on paper
A PNG stores a fixed grid of pixels. Enlarge it and there is no extra detail to draw with, so the software invents it and the module edges go soft. Soft edges are precisely what a scanner has trouble with — the boundary between a dark and a light square stops being obvious.
An SVG stores the shapes. Print it at 2 cm or paint it on the side of a building; the edges stay perfectly sharp because they are recalculated at whatever size you ask for.
Other formats you may be asked for
- PDF — vector, like SVG, and often what a print shop prefers to receive. Same sharpness.
- EPS — an older vector format some print workflows still expect. Ask your printer.
- JPG — avoid. JPEG compression smears exactly the hard black-and-white edges a QR code is made of.
- 3MF / STL — for 3D printing the code as a physical object rather than putting it on paper.
If a designer asks for “the vector”, they mean the SVG or the PDF. Sending a PNG and being asked again is the single most common round-trip in QR print jobs.