Three mistakes get printed onto vans, menus and market stall banners every week, and all three come from the same misunderstanding about how QR codes work.
Three mistakes people make
Printing a code from a free trial
A dynamic QR code redirects through the generator's own server. It lets them track scans, and it also means the code stops working the day your free trial or plan ends, often months after the banner went up.
Making the code too small to scan
A code the size of a stamp on the side of a van looks tidy and cannot be read from the pavement. The rule of thumb is roughly a tenth of the scanning distance.
Never testing it before printing
A code that scans fine on your phone under office lighting can fail on a market stall in bright sun, or on glossy laminate that throws glare.
The fix: a static code you generate once
The Jobbit QR code generator makes static codes only, so your link is baked straight into the pattern and nothing sits in between. You paste the link, pick where it is going, a business card, a stall banner, a van, packaging, and choose black and white, your logo, or your brand colour. Back comes a print ready PNG and SVG, already tested to scan, with a line on how large to print it, all on the free plan with no card needed. Jobbit's full guide to codes that never expire covers seven more uses.
How the free options compare
| What you need | Free QR sites | Jobbit |
|---|---|---|
| A code that keeps working | Bitly's free tier leans on dynamic codes | Every code is static, made from your own link |
| Logo and brand colour | Possible on QR Code Monkey, fiddly on Canva | Attach a logo or pick a colour on the form |
| Testing before you print | You check it yourself | Jobbit tests the scan and tells you the print size |
A mobile hairdresser's card
A mobile hairdresser wants a code on her business cards that opens her booking page. She makes it once on Jobbit, orders 500 cards, and two years later the code still works, because there was never a subscription to lapse in the first place.
When to pay instead
If you are running a real campaign across many locations and need to know how many scans came from which poster, a dynamic code with tracking, such as a paid Bitly or QR Tiger plan, is the right tool. For a van, a card or a market stall sign that just needs to work, a free static code does the job for good.
