What's New in the QR Code Generator: Frames, Gradients & Bulk ZIP Export
Three requests kept coming up around this tool: a way to say "scan this" without designing a separate banner, a way to move past a flat single color, and a way to stop generating codes one at a time for a big list of links. All three are now live in the QR Code Generator. Here's exactly what shipped and how to use each one.
What it does: Under Customize, a new checkbox — "Add a 'Scan Me' call-to-action frame" — wraps the code in a bordered banner with an editable caption (default text: SCAN ME) and its own color. It's baked into both the PNG and the SVG download, so there's nothing extra to assemble afterward.
Turning it on reveals two fields: a caption box, capped at 24 characters, and a color picker for the frame itself. Change the caption to something more specific to the code's purpose — "Scan for menu," "Scan to connect," "Scan for WiFi" — and the banner updates in the live preview immediately, before you download anything.
The practical case for this is simple: a bare QR code on a busy poster or table tent can blend into the background, and a viewer has to guess what it's for. A short, direct label removes that guesswork. This was previously something you'd add yourself in a separate design tool after downloading the plain code; now it's part of the same PNG or SVG file that comes out of the generator, which saves a layout step for anyone building a flyer, sticker, or table card directly from the download.
New: linear and radial gradient foreground color
What it does: A new "Use a gradient foreground instead of a flat color" toggle in Customize lets you choose between a linear or radial gradient, using your existing foreground color as the starting shade and a second color you pick to finish it. It applies to both the PNG and SVG downloads.
Previously, foreground color was a single flat value (plus a separately colorable eye/corner style). With the gradient option on, you pick a gradient type — Linear sweeps across the code in one direction, Radial spreads outward from the center — and a second color to pair with your existing foreground color. This is a purely visual option: it doesn't change what the code encodes, and it's meant for matching a brand palette or a poster's color scheme rather than functional necessity.
As an example scenario (not a measured statistic), imagine building a QR code for a product launch page where the brand's colors are indigo and violet. Instead of a flat single-tone code, setting the foreground to indigo and the second gradient color to violet lets the code echo the same two-tone look used elsewhere in the campaign, without needing an external image editor.
Contrast still matters: gradient or flat, a QR scanner needs the code pattern to stay clearly darker than the background across the whole code. Two mid-to-dark shades paired together generally hold up fine; pairing a dark shade with a very light one can create a low-contrast zone right where a phone's camera is trying to lock onto the pattern. Always preview and test-scan before printing.
New: bulk generation from a pasted list, exported as a ZIP
What it does: A new Bulk tab accepts a pasted list — one URL or line of text per row, or simple CSV rows with a data value and an optional name — generates a QR code for every line using your current Customize settings, and offers a single "Download all as ZIP" button once the batch is ready.
To use it: switch to the Bulk tab, paste your list into the text area, and click "Generate batch." Each line becomes its own QR code, rendered in a grid so you can see all of them at once before downloading. A plain line like example.com/promo-1 is encoded as-is, automatically prefixed with https:// if it looks like a bare domain; a CSV-style line such as https://example.com/promo-1,promo-1 uses the text after the first comma as the file name inside the ZIP — no manual renaming needed afterward.
Say you're numbering QR codes for 40 event tables, or generating a unique tracking link for each item in a product line (again, an illustrative example, not a specific customer's data): instead of repeating "paste link, check preview, download, rename" forty times, you paste all forty lines once, hit generate, review the grid, and download one ZIP file already containing forty correctly named codes.
Bulk mode input format
Pasted line
What it becomes
https://example.com/menu
One QR code, file named from the URL
example.com/promo-2
Auto-prefixed to https://example.com/promo-2
https://example.com/promo-3,promo-3
Code for the link, ZIP file named promo-3
Bulk mode uses the same color, gradient, module style, eye style, and size settings set in Customize, so a whole batch keeps a consistent look without configuring each code individually. It's still worth spot-checking a few codes from a large batch with an actual phone camera before sending a full run to print.
Try the new frame, gradient, and bulk ZIP export — free, no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.
Is the bulk QR code generator really free, with no limit on how many codes I make?
Yes. The Bulk tab is part of the same free, no-sign-up tool as the other modes. You paste a list of lines (or simple CSV rows), click Generate batch, and every code is rendered in your browser using your current color, size, and style settings from Customize. There's no account, no watermark, and no cap enforced by the tool itself — very long pasted lists will simply take a bit longer to render and zip, since everything happens on your device rather than a server.
What format should my pasted list be in for bulk QR generation?
One entry per line. A plain line — a URL, domain, or short text — is encoded as-is, and a bare domain like example.com is automatically prefixed with https://. For a CSV-style line such as https://example.com/promo-1,promo-1, the tool treats everything after the first comma as the file name to use for that code in the downloaded ZIP, which is the simplest way to keep dozens of files organized without renaming them by hand afterward.
Does the "Scan Me" frame get included in both the PNG and the SVG download?
Yes. Once the frame toggle is switched on and a caption and color are set, the banner is baked into both the downloaded PNG and the downloaded SVG — it isn't a separate overlay you'd need to add later in another program. That makes it usable straight out of the download for a poster, table tent, or flyer layout.
Can I use a gradient foreground color together with the bulk generator and the frame at the same time?
Yes. Gradient color, the module and eye style, and the "Scan Me" frame all live in the same Customize panel and apply to whatever mode is active, including Bulk. Turn on the settings you want once, then switch to the Bulk tab and generate the batch — every code in that batch is rendered with the same gradient, frame, and shape settings, which keeps a multi-code run visually consistent.
Why would I choose a radial gradient instead of a linear one for a QR code?
A linear gradient sweeps from one color to another across a fixed direction, which tends to suit a code meant to sit inside a rectangular banner or card. A radial gradient spreads outward from the center instead, which can read more naturally on a circular sticker or a badge where the code is the visual centerpiece. Neither choice affects how the code scans by itself — that still comes down to keeping contrast strong against the background — so the choice is mostly about which shape matches the layout the code will sit in.
Methodology note: the scenarios above (event tables, a product launch palette) are illustrative examples used to explain how to use a feature, not measured outcomes or customer data. Feature names and behavior described here reflect the QR Code Generator's functionality as of publication and may change; always preview and test-scan a code before printing or distributing it.