What a vCard code is and what a phone does with it
A vCard is the standard text format for a contact card, the same one inside a .vcf file. Contact apps on iPhone, Android and the desktop read it. A QR code can hold that card as text, and this tool writes version 3.0, which is the version contact apps read most widely.
When a phone scans the code, it recognises the card and shows the contact details. The person then chooses whether to save it, so nothing is added to their phone without them agreeing. What the screen looks like, and whether they can edit the card first, depends on the phone and the scanner.
Some tools use MeCard, a shorter format from a Japanese phone maker. It makes smaller codes, but it has fewer fields. We use vCard because it can carry an organisation, a job title and both phone numbers.
How much detail is too much
Everything on the card is stored as text in the code, so each field makes more, smaller squares. These are the sizes at medium error correction:
- Name and a mobile number: 41 by 41 squares
- Name, mobile and email: 49 by 49
- Add an organisation, a job title and a website: 57 by 57
- Every field filled in with short entries, including a full address and a note: 69 by 69
Printed 2.5 cm wide, a 41 by 41 code has squares of about 0.5 mm and a 69 by 69 code has squares of about 0.3 mm, which many printers will blur and many cameras will struggle to read. If the card is going on a business card, keep to a name, one number and an email, and put everything else on your website.
A good split is to put what people need to reach you in the contact code, and link to your portfolio or profiles from a separate link QR code.
Phone numbers, accents and addresses
Phone numbers are cleaned before they go into the card. A number written as +1 (555) 010-0199 becomes +15550100199. A number without a +, such as 020 7946 0000, only dials correctly from inside its own country, so write it with the country code, +44 20 7946 0000. A (0) in brackets right after the country code, as in +44 (0)20 7946 0000, is the zero that people dial only inside the country, so it is dropped and the number is stored as +442079460000. Letters cannot be dialled and an extension cannot be stored, so those are rejected or dropped with a note.
Names, job titles and notes can use accents and other scripts, because the card is stored as UTF-8. Letters outside plain English take two to four bytes each, so a card in Chinese, Japanese or Korean uses more of the code. Very old scanner apps may show some characters wrongly, so test with the phones your audience uses.
The address fields (street, city, state or region, postcode and country) are stored as one work address. Line breaks in the note are kept.
Who can read it, and where to use it
The details sit in the code as readable text, so anyone who scans it can read every field. Leave out your home address and your private mobile number if the code will be on display, such as on a poster, a lanyard or a website.
- Business cards: a small code on the back saves people typing your details. Print it at least 2 cm wide and test it on the actual card stock.
- Email signatures and slides: use the PNG, big enough for a phone to read from a screen.
- Name badges and stands at events: use a short card so that the code is large and simple.
The code cannot be changed after printing. If you move, change number or change job, make a new one.