QR codes have been a popular way to easily share information and links, particularly in Asia, as I have experienced this in a number of places in Japan, China and Korea with marketing ads and also working on some campaigns for the Asian region as well. QR codes have traditionally been used in printed materials and more recently picked up in Western countries like Australia during the pandemic for check-in and check-out tracking and safety measures. If you ever do need to create a QR code it's important to be aware that some online QR code generators may not be reliable. It may stop working after a short period of time. I suspect this might be due to companies wanting to do a cash grab to grant you access for it to continue to work. To ensure that your QR code is reliable, I have found Adobe Indesign or the Google Chrome browser a safer alternative.
If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you can use Indesign to generate a QR code by selecting Options > Generate QR Code from the top menu. You can choose to link to a web URL, plain text, text message, email, or business card, and you can also customize the colour of the QR code. The process is quite straightforward forwards.
Alternatively, if you don't have a Creative Cloud subscription, you can use the Google Chrome browser to generate a QR code. Simply right-click in the browser and select "Create QR Code for this page" from the menu. This will generate a QR code that you can download, though it will have a pixelated dinosaur icon in the centre.
I have not used Canva before, however, it looks like it's possible to generate a QR code and it's something you might want to look at if that is your preferred application. Using a more reliable option, as I have mentioned like Indesign, Chrome browser or Canva is a quick and easy way to ensure that your QR code is reliable.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
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