QR code size for a menu

Seated distances

A diner scans from a chair, and the geometry is consistent everywhere:

Context	Distance	Minimum code width
Menu held in the hand	25–30 cm	2.5–3 cm
Menu flat on the table	40 cm	4 cm
Sticker on the table surface	35 cm	3.5 cm
Wall menu behind a counter	1.5–2 m	15–20 cm

3 cm is the working minimum for a physical menu — it covers the in-hand case with margin. If the code is the menu (a card or sticker that stays on the table), size for 40 cm, because nobody picks up a glued-down sticker. Counter-service wall menus are posters in disguise; size them with the ten-to-one rule, not menu instincts.

Error correction: Q, for once

Menus lead a hard life — wiped nightly, stacked, splashed, scratched. That damage is localised, which is precisely what error correction repairs, so EC Q (25% recovery) earns its density cost here. A short URL at EC Q still sits around version 3–4; at 3 cm that is a healthy 0.7–0.9 mm module.

The laminate hotspot

The menu-specific failure is glare. Restaurant lighting is point-source — downlights and pendants — and a gloss laminate reflects them specularly. At typical table geometry the reflected hotspot lands more or less where the diner's phone is aimed, washing out a patch of the code. Error correction cannot help: glare is not damaged modules, it is a region with no contrast at all, and if the hotspot covers a finder pattern the scanner never locates the code in the first place.

The fixes, in order of effectiveness:

1. Matt laminate. Same durability, diffuse reflection. Specify it; gloss is the default at many print shops. See laminate and varnish effects on scanning.
2. Placement away from the table's overhead light line — the glare guide covers the angles.
3. A caption telling diners they can lift or tilt the menu — which they do anyway when a scan fails, but a hint shortens the fumble.

Payload notes

Link straight to the menu, not the homepage — a menu QR code pointing at yoursite.example/menu keeps the payload short and the version low. Keep it stable: the code outlives the laminate, so the URL must survive redesigns. Check the numbers with the size calculator and verify the artwork decodes before laminating fifty copies. Presentation formats — stands, tents, stickers — are compared on the menus surface page.

FAQ

What size should a QR code be on a restaurant menu?

2.5–3 cm on a menu diners hold, 4 cm on anything read flat on the table. Seated scanning distance runs 30–50 cm, and the flat-on-table case is the one most menu codes are undersized for.

Why won't the QR code on my laminated menu scan?

Usually glare. Gloss laminate reflects overhead downlights as a bright hotspot with no contrast, and if it covers part of the code — especially a corner finder pattern — the scan fails. Re-laminate in matt, or move the code away from the reflection line.

What error correction level should a menu QR code use?

Q. Menus accumulate scratches, wipe marks and food stains, which are localised damage that 25% error correction genuinely repairs. The density cost is small for a short menu URL.

Is a QR code on the table better than one on the menu?

Table stickers and tents survive menu redesigns and are always present, but they are read from further away — size them at 3.5–4 cm minimum and expect harder wear. Both work when sized for their actual distance.