Adding a logo to a QR code without breaking it

Keep the logo small, raise error correction, and give it a background plate. Those three together mean the scanner treats the covered modules as damage it can reconstruct.

The logo is not invisible to the code: it physically covers modules the scanner needs. The rules exist to make what is hidden recoverable.

Error correction decides how much of the pattern can be unreadable and still be rebuilt. At level L the code tolerates roughly 7% damage; at Q it tolerates about 25%, and at H about 30%. A logo is damage, measured in the same way.

The trade-off is real: higher correction stores more redundancy, which makes the modules denser for the same amount of data. A code at H needs to be printed larger than the same code at L to stay readable at the same distance.

Measure the logo against the code's width, not its area, since that is what a designer sees when they scale it. A logo a third of the width is roughly a tenth of the area, which sits comfortably inside what H can rebuild.

Centre it. A logo pushed into a corner covers different modules than the ones the code can best spare, and it distorts the timing patterns a scanner uses to orient itself. Give it a solid plate in a contrasting tone so the logo's own edges do not blur into the modules.

The logo sits in the middle, but the margin around the code is just as important. Keep the quiet zone clear of the logo, borders and text, or the scanner struggles to find the code at all.

This is where branded designs usually fail: the code is fine, but the caption, the frame or the decorative border eats into the margin and the camera cannot lock on.

Test the actual printed piece, not the file on a screen. A code that scans instantly on a monitor can fail on matte stock under a warm restaurant light.