Email QR code generator

The mailto format

An email QR code holds a mailto address, defined in RFC 6068. Every phone knows how to open it in the default mail app:

mailto:support@bluedoor.com?subject=Product%20return&body=Order%20number%3A%20

• subject fills the subject line, body the message.
• Spaces become %20 and special characters get percent-encoded. The designer does it for you.
• Separate several recipients with a comma; cc and bcc work too, but are rarely useful on print.

An older format, MATMSG:TO:...;SUB:...;BODY:...;;, dates back to early Japanese phones. Support has faded, so QRTada uses mailto.

Static or dynamic?

In a static code, address and message sit in the pattern: it works everywhere, but a new address means a reprint. In a dynamic code, a short link redirects to the mailto: switch the recipient (a new hire, a support inbox) without touching the printed piece, and count scans.

Three practical uses

For sign-ups, remember that CAN-SPAM requires every marketing email you send later to include a working unsubscribe option and your postal address. Keep a record of who asked to join and when.

Limits to know

1. No mail app set up: on some phones, especially Android without a Gmail account, nothing opens. Print the address next to the code too.
2. A long message: in a static code, every character grows the pattern. Past about 150 characters the code gets dense and hard to read at small sizes. Go dynamic or shorten.
3. Unencoded special characters: an & or ? in the subject cuts the message. Let the designer encode it.

Test the code with both an iPhone and an Android phone before a print run, since the default mail app differs from one device to the next. If your audience would rather text than email, try the SMS QR code or the WhatsApp QR code.

Code size vs message length

In a static code everything is in the pattern: address, subject and message, once encoded. A four-word subject and a one-line opener come to about 90 characters, a 41 by 41 module grid, readable from 1 inch. Three sentences of message pass 250 characters and a 61 by 61 grid: plan for 1.5 inches or more. A dynamic code always keeps the same light pattern, since it holds a short link only. On a product label or a manual, where space is tight, that is the one to pick. The size calculator accounts for content length.