Placement and surface
Place the code on a flat area that shoppers can see and point a phone at easily, away from folds, seams and edges. Curved surfaces such as bottles and cans bend the grid away from the camera, so a code there should be smaller relative to the curve or placed along the straighter axis. Glossy films and metallic inks can cause glare, and a matte area under the code helps.
- Keep the code off folds, seams and heat seals
- On cylinders, keep the code narrow relative to the curve
- Avoid glossy or metallic finishes behind the code
- Keep a clear quiet zone of four modules
- Add a short line of text saying what the scan gives
GS1 Digital Link for products
GS1 Digital Link is a GS1 standard for putting a product’s GTIN and other identifiers into a web address, which can then be encoded in a QR code. The same code can open a web page for shoppers and be read at the checkout as the product’s barcode. GS1’s Sunrise 2027 initiative aims for retail scanners to accept 2D barcodes such as these by the end of 2027.
Plan for the life of the pack
Packaging can stay in homes and stores for years, so the link must keep working long after the print run. A domain the brand controls, a stable URL structure and regular checks help avoid dead codes. Test printed proofs on the actual material, since substrate, ink spread and curvature all affect scanning.