Show HN: Create a QR code with text in the code pattern | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Create a QR code with text in the code pattern

qr.new

126 pointskoch32 comments

Just a note, instead of encoding the picture in the full destination URL, you can encode the picture into the padding section between the URL and the Reed-Solomon section, thus permitting the use of any URL.

I used this technique a long time ago on qrpixel.com but forgot to renew the domain, oops...

http://web.archive.org/web/20160423015339/http://www.qrpixel...

Also for information about how this works, Russ Cox did a good article on it, calculating using the R-S section as well: https://research.swtch.com/qart

Wow, I really like what qrpixel did! Do you know of any alternative tools (that are still around) that work the same way?

Can you deploy it somewhere? It seems very useful. Netlify should work great if it's a static page.

I used qrpixel to draw my avatar https://avatars0.githubusercontent.com/u/714648?s=460&u=2bca...

I'd be very glad to see it online again.

This is the first use of an expensive (~$500?) .new domain I’ve seen in the wild not associated with a global brand.

For those who don’t know, this domain is constrained to applications where a new file or process is created by visiting the domain, e.g., Google’s http://doc.new creating a new Google Doc file.

https://icannwiki.org/.new

Is there a place where those constraints are laid out? The linked page only provides the following:

>Charleston Road Registry believes that given its wide variety of uses, the .new gTLD will best add value to the gTLD space by remaining purely open and unencumbered by registrant restrictions. There will, therefore, be no restrictions on second-level domain name registrations in the proposed gTLD, .new.

Yes, the registry page outlines the constraints. Charleston Road is actually Google.

https://www.registry.google/policies/registration/new/#!/

Good to know, thanks!

ZSA, the mechanical keyboard company, has layout.new —- that’s the smallest institution owning one of the .new domains I’d seen prior to this. Not exactly a global brand

The site is really confusing to use or maybe creating links don't work on the latest version of Chrome? Also, the resolution is extremely low -- for example "5SszZ2" is completely indistinguishable from "555222", "SSSZZZ", etc.

I think it's probably just confusing, which is a bug in itself. There are a few text fields that all look like they could be what you redirect to, but only the "Link QR" will redirect you to the link you enter.

> the resolution is extremely low

Yeah no argument there. I do actually have space for a 4x3 font instead of a 3x3 font, that may be worth working on.

I'd love to see the 4x3. Although then the available real estate will be smaller. It would be cool if it was an option. For example, if I only have unmistakable chars in my text, I could get away with the 3x3 option.

Looks cool, but the generated QR codes link to qr.new instead of the domain I entered to link to. This is on iPad Safari. Is it required to register before this will work as expected? It's unclear to me.

There are two 'types' of codes you can make, one is a regular redirect to the link you enter (Link QR), the other takes you to a qr.new page that has the information you entered on it (Everything QR). So make sure you have the right type selected and that you've put your link in the link field.

Action item for me though, I need to make that clearer on the site.

I went ahead and changed Link QR to say "Redirect" and replaced "Link to a website" under Everything Qr with "Text," hopefully that clears some confusion.

There's definitely a problem though: when I edit the URL as a Link QR (e.g. changing .com to .co), the little checkmark changes to a spinner then back to a checkmark, but the QR code does not change at all. No error messages in the console other than two script-src CSP errors.

The change is server side, the QR code pattern shouldn't change. When you click or scan the QR code after you switch types it should behave accordingly.

I think that is because the link does not actually send you directly to your website, but routes you through qr.new. If qr.new were to go down, any QR codes created would not work.

This is correct. I have basically combined a link shortener with a QR code.

The page won't load if www.googleapis.com is blocked.

It fails for my trying to post something to http://localhost:5001/piiq-1/us-central1/create (tried with Firefox and Edge)

Thank you, should be fixed now!

Add any image to a QR code

https://qr-edit.com/

Really cool, but my phone currently can't recognize it as a QR code..

This is so awesome but Sign in with Google doesn't work :/

This is cool! thanks and noted. I like the font, feels natural.

Can the text be different from the content of the QR code?

Yes (source: 30 seconds spent trying it)

It's almost quicker than asking the question and waiting for an answer!

Yeah, the "Inner message" on the right is a completely separate field from the actual QR contents on the left.

Yes! The text in the QR code is completely independent of the content, just edit the text field under the QR code.

love the sass you get when you enter "scan me"

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