How to Generate QR Codes using Python

This is a guide in generating QR codes in your Python app .

what is a QR code ?

A QR code is a type of matrix barcode first designed in 1994 for the automotive industry in Japan. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached.

There is a big difference between QR codes and bar codes. Bar codes only hold information in the horizontal direction; a QR code holds information in both horizontal and vertical directions. As a result, a QR code contains a lot more information compared to a barcode.

What you will learn from this article

1. Generating a QR code
2. Create Customized QR code(colors …)
3. Generating QR code to open a link

Installing the required packages

pip install qrcode[pil] 
#For a standard install (which will include pillow for generating images)

you can generate your code just from terminal just by

import qrcode
img = qrcode.make('Some data here')

For more control, use the QRCode class. For example:

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")

The version parameter is an integer from 1 to 40 that controls the size of the QR Code (the smallest, version 1, is a 21x21 matrix). Set to None and use the fit parameter when making the code to determine this automatically.

fill_color and back_color can change the background and the painting color of the QR, when using the default image factory.

The error_correction parameter controls the error correction used for the QR Code. The following four constants are made available on the qrcode package:

ERROR_CORRECT_L About 7% or less errors can be corrected.ERROR_CORRECT_M (default)About 15% or less errors can be corrected.ERROR_CORRECT_Q About 25% or less errors can be corrected.ERROR_CORRECT_H. About 30% or less errors can be corrected.

The box_size parameter controls how many pixels each “box” of the QR code is.

The border parameter controls how many boxes thick the border should be (the default is 4, which is the minimum according to the specs).

qr code from wikipedia

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE CODE OF THE QR GENERATOR FROM MY GITHUB REPO: Click Here