A QR code for your restaurant menu that looks like your restaurant

A QR code for your restaurant menu does not have to be a plain black square taped to the table. With QRPetal you can turn a photo of your signature dish, your latte art or your shopfront into the code itself, so the table card looks like part of your brand. Guests point their phone at it and your menu opens.

Why menus are the best place for an editable code

Menus change: prices go up, dishes come and go, the lunch menu is different from dinner. If the code on every table holds the address of a PDF, you have to reprint the cards every time the address changes.

An editable code solves that. The QR holds a short link we run, and you choose where it forwards to. Move your menu from a PDF to a new website, or switch to the weekend brunch menu on Saturday morning, and the printed cards keep working. You also see how many people scanned it each day, which is a simple way to learn which tables and which times are busy.

If your menu address will never change, a free static code is fine: it holds the link directly and needs nothing from us to keep working.

Choosing the photo

• Pick one clear subject. A top-down shot of a coffee, a bowl or a pizza works better than a busy photo of the whole room.
• Contrast helps. A light plate on a dark table, or the other way round, gives the QR readers an easier job.
• Keep it square-friendly. The code is square, so the important part of your photo should be in the middle.

Start with the Balanced style. If the scan score says “Scans OK” and you want more margin, slide towards “Easier to scan”.

Printing table cards and stickers

• Size: for a table card read from about 30 cm away, make the code at least 3 cm wide; 4 to 5 cm is more comfortable, and artistic codes benefit from the extra room. Our guide on how big a printed QR code should be explains the rule of thumb.
• Keep the white border. The quiet margin around the code is part of the code. Do not let the card design cut into it.
• Matte beats glossy. Glossy lamination reflects ceiling lights straight into the phone camera. If you laminate, choose matte.
• Add a few words. “Scan for the menu” under the code tells people what will happen. Many guests will not scan a code without a reason.

Test before you print 50 of them

Our scan check runs two different QR readers on every code, but phones and lighting vary. Print one card, put it on a real table and scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone from where a guest would sit. Then print the rest.

Good to know

• Your guests do not need an app: the phone camera reads QR codes on most phones sold in the last several years.
• If you stop paying for a plan, your printed editable codes keep forwarding to their last link. They never expire. See pricing.