Which code where
| Job | Code type | Static or dynamic | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Save my contact | vCard | Static | Back of card |
| My profile page | URL | Dynamic | Back of card |
| Book a meeting | URL | Dynamic | Back of card, sales and consulting |
| Portfolio or work samples | URL | Dynamic | Back of card, creative trades |
| URL | Dynamic | Back of card, if it is where you are active |
vCard or profile link
A vCard code carries the contact itself: name, company, number, email, website. The phone reads it and offers to save the contact without a connection. It is the fastest experience and works in a basement conference room with no signal. Its cost is that it is static. Change your number and every card in every drawer is wrong. The vCard type page explains the format and its limits.
A profile-link code opens a small page with the same details and a “save contact” button. It needs a connection and one more tap, but the page can be changed forever. New role, new number, new photo, same cards.
Choose by how stable your details are. A partner in a firm with a number for life picks the vCard. A salesperson who might change employers in two years picks the link, and makes it dynamic.
The back of the card
The code lives on the back, alone, with a clear margin and one line of text. The front of a card is where the design and the name go, and a code squeezed beside the name is too small and too close to the letters to scan reliably.
Print your name and email in text on the front as usual. The code is the fast route, not the only one. A card with only a code on it is a puzzle, not a card. The business cards guide walks through the layout with a worked example.
Getting the card code right
- Size: 2 cm is the floor and only for a short payload. 2.5 cm if the card has room. Scanned at 20 to 30 cm.
- Payload length: keep the vCard to six fields or fewer. Each field adds modules; more modules at the same size means smaller modules and a blurrier print. The capacity calculator shows the version your payload needs.
- Level M. Cards live in wallets, not on scaffolds. Level H at 2 cm adds modules you cannot afford.
- Contrast: black or a very dark colour on white or a pale card stock. Do not reverse the code out of a dark card. The colour guide explains why light-on-dark fails on many phones.
- Margin: four modules of clear space, about 3 mm at this size, with no text or logo touching it.
- Finish: matte or soft-touch. If the card is gloss or has spot UV, leave the code area plain.
- Vector: give the printer an SVG or PDF, never a PNG scaled in layout. The export formats guide explains which to send.
Do this
A 2.2 cm level M black-on-white vCard code with six fields, alone on the matte back of the card with 'Scan to save my contact' beneath, supplied to the printer as vector.
Not this
A 1.5 cm level H code in the brand's mid-grey on a glossy dark blue card, beside the name on the front, carrying a ten-field vCard with a postal address and a note.
In practice
Order a printed proof before the run and scan it with three phones, including one older than three years. Do it from arm’s length in ordinary room light. A code that only scans held up to the lens will fail in a handshake.
Privacy note
A vCard is the data. Everything you put in it is readable by anyone who picks up the card, and cards get left on tables and photographed. Put in the details you would already print on the front, and leave out your home address, date of birth and personal mobile unless you want them shared. A profile link gives you control: you can take the page down.
Try it yourself
Enter your name, company, one number and one email in the payload builder and it produces a compact vCard payload. Check its version with the capacity calculator before you send the artwork to print.