How to read and create QR Codes from PC and smartphone

QR Codes or QR Codes are those printer drawings made strips crossed inside one another in a square or horizontal shape, which if framed by a scanning device return information stored in them. Just like a bar code from a store has stored the price of a product inside, the QR code can contain a phone number or anything else information. QR stands for Quick Response and are black-band square codes that have become widely used for marketing, advertising and to provide quick access to websites, messages or contact information. Marketing and advertising love QR codes because people are always curious to scan when they meet someone. QR codes are visual shortcuts for more information.
When you find a QR Code you can use the smartphone application with the camera to scan and decode it, in order to see what it hides, to read and store data quickly without having to write it with the keyboard. Their usefulness is evident: by scanning a QR code it is possible to open a person's social profile, download an application, import a business card, a long address, a URL and so on, only by scanning a smartphone with the camera image.
Since QR codes are free tools, everyone can create them freely and generate them for free for any reason they want and everyone can decode or read them with normal smartphones . In this post, in addition to seeing how to create QR codes, we also see how to read QR Codes and how to use them .

Create QR Codes from PC and smartphone

There are a lot of web applications for creating QR codes, some with more options than others.
one of the best is The easiest way to create a QR code is with QRCode Monkey that allows you to create a QR code with this information stored inside: URL, text, Email, phone, SMS, VCard, MeCard, geographical coordinates, profile Facebook, Youtube page, Wifi credentials, events to remember and more. The QR Code can be customized with colors other than black and white and also with a different image or design. At the end you can save the code as a PNG image or print it with a maximum resolution of 2000 × 2000 pixels.

Other sites to create QR codes

• On the Kaiwa website you can generate a barcode to identify a phone number, an email address, an SMS or a URL .
• Goqr.me, can also create a barcode for a vCard, i.e. a business card that includes all the personal data such as name, surname, address etc.
• ZXing allows you to create a code that contains your name and password to access a Wifi network or even with geographic coordinates or calendar dates.
• The QR Code Generator is a very complete web application with tons of options to create QR codes with anything.
• The QR Code Generator site allows you to create a code with an image inside it that can be a logo, or a photo and also allows you to change the colors of the design and add a customized text.
• The most complete site of all is QrStuff because it allows you to generate QR codes for a website, a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, a wifi network, a Paypal payment, a download from the App Store, a Linkedin profile, an email, an Email address, a telephone number, a Youtube video, a Google Maps place. The code can also be colored and saved as a PNG or JPG image.

You can create QR codes on your computer for websites and texts by simply using Google Chrome as your browser and the QR Creator application. After installation, start QR Creator from the app page and then write the text or internet address to be incorporated in it to save the code image or share it via link.
You can also use some extensions to create QR codes from browsers including: QR Code for Firefox, QR Code Extension (which works both to generate Codes and to scan them from PC webcam) or even Quick QR to generate QR codes from Google Chrome .
QRCoce Generator is an extension to create QR COde on Mac using Safari .

Scan QR codes

Although it can also be done from a PC, the easiest and fastest way to read bar codes and decipher what they hide is the camera of the Android smartphone or iPhone with a barcode scanner application . To read the QR codes it takes an application for scanning to be installed on the Android smartphone or iPhone, which allows, by pointing the camera on the code, to extract and decode the information it hides.

QR scanner for Android

On Android the BarCode Scanner app works very well, simple and tested.
Also for Android, the most prudent could instead use Kaspersky QR Scanner which in addition to deciphering barcodes, also says if they report to secure sites or not.
Another popular application for Android that allows you to scan QR codes is the QR code reader which also scans the barcodes of products with the same speed with which it scans the QR codes, in seconds.
We can still add Free QR Scanner by Avira or QR Code Scanner

QR scanner for iPhone

On iPhone and iPad you can use QR Code or the QR Reader app which is the simplest.

Scan and read QR Codes on PC

You can also scan a QR code from a Windows PC using the CodeTwo QR Code Desktop Reader program, free and easy to use to read the QR codes found on the internet, directly from your computer. Reading or scanning can be done directly from an image or by uploading the QR file on the program itself.
From any PC you can also scan online any QR code by uploading it as an image on the zxing website.
Other sites for reading QR codes using the computer's webcam are: Web QR that uses the camera, QR Code Generator, Inlite that scans QR codes and all types of existing bar codes.

Use QR codes

• After creating the square image that represents the QR code, you could print it on your business card in order to provide the address of your online business card or personal web page or, less beautiful but more useful, a code that contains the vCard that adds all the personal and contact data to the phone's address book with a click. A scan of the barcode is all it takes to transfer complete contact information to your phone in a flash and effortlessly.
• Business cards can be scanned by a QR code reader so that they can be directed to the person's website, given his portfolio, showing his phone number or social media pages, etc. The tec-it.com application is a perfect tool to create the business card to be printed with an embedded QR code.
  In this regard, I remember the page with the best free sites to create free business cards to print .
• Routers can use QR codes to simplify and speed up the internet connection from their smartphone. Using QR codes it is also possible to share wifi passwords quickly and make friends connect in Wifi without giving them the password .
• Putting a QR code on your CV could be a nice move to hit recruiters and employers who can see it as a modern touch.
• Anyone who advertises on billboards that are seen on the street or in newspapers can include a QR code that leads perhaps to a special offer or to the official website of the product or company. A code can also be an advertising medium on posters and stickers to stick around. I have also seen that some companies have distributed shirts and advertising caps with QR codes; evidently they make fashion and push those who see them to scan the brand with their smartphone.
• The fact that a code contains hidden information of any kind could push some people to find different non-commercial but more social uses, perhaps by inserting secret messages or special dedications.
• Receipts can be printed with an automatically generated QR code to encourage the customer to participate in a survey or to highlight reimbursement opportunities.
• Apps and websites use QR codes to authorize access from a PC. WhatsApp Web and Messages for Web are just two examples of websites that generate QR codes that are read by the respective apps to send access details to the computer.

Whatever you have to say, if you want to spread it so that only those interested can read it, the QR code becomes an excellent information vehicle. There are an infinite number of practical applications for using QR codes, especially considering that they are simple to create and read and that they are free, unlimited and free.