QR Code for a Scientific Poster
Paste a link and download a print-resolution QR code. Free, no account, and the link stays in your browser.
Reviewed by SciFig TeamUpdated
The link stays in your browser — nothing is uploaded to a server.
Example code shown — paste your link above to replace it.
What is a QR Code for a Scientific Poster?
A poster QR code is a printed square that opens a link when a reader scans it — usually your full reference list.
A poster QR code is a printed square that opens a link when a reader scans it with a phone — most usefully the full reference list, the preprint, or the dataset behind the work. On a scientific poster it solves a specific problem: the sections that overflow the board are exactly the ones a reader wants later rather than at the board. The generator here runs in your browser, so the link is never uploaded.
How to make a QR code for a scientific poster, step by step
The generator above does the encoding; the rest is what decides whether anyone scans it.
Paste the link you want the code to open — your preprint, your dataset, your reference list or your lab page — then download the PNG at print resolution and drop it into the QR slot in any of our free scientific poster templates: plain .pptx boards, made by SciFig, that open in both PowerPoint and Google Slides. The three sections below cover the parts people get wrong: how big the code has to be, where on the board it belongs, and what it should open.
How big should a QR code be on a poster
The working rule is scanning distance divided by ten.
People scan a scientific poster from roughly 0.3 to 1 meter away, which puts a poster QR code between 3 and 10 cm square; the QR placeholder in the conference poster templates is set to 5 cm, which is comfortable at arm’s length. Two things break this: printing a code that was sized for screen (it goes blurry — always export at print resolution), and shrinking it to fill a gap. If the code has to be smaller than about 3 cm, shorten the URL instead so the pattern gets simpler.
Where to put a QR code on a scientific poster
Bottom-right, next to or just under the reference list.
That is where a reader's eye finishes, and it is reachable without leaning across the board — which matters when someone is standing in front of it. Avoid the very top (people are reading your title from two meters away, not scanning), the extreme edges (poster boards and clips cut into them), and the middle of a figure. Keep a clear white margin around the code; scanners need the quiet zone.
Academic poster QR code examples: where it sits on a real board
On every board below the QR slot sits bottom-right of the references section, sized at 5 cm.
These are scientific poster templates with the QR slot already in place, bottom-right of the references section: a tall A0 poster template, a wide 36 x 48 poster template, and a square conference poster board. Click any of the three to open its template page. The placeholder is sized at 5 cm in each one, so you swap in the PNG from the generator above and the position is already right.
Every poster template has a QR placeholder in the bottom-right of the references section — click the icon to drop your own code in. 
On wide boards the QR slot keeps the same position relative to the reference list, so readers find it in the same place. 
The square boards used by AVS, MRS, AIChE and Keystone carry the same QR slot.
What to link a poster QR code to
Link a poster QR code to one thing: your full reference list, the preprint, the dataset, or your lab page.
Four things earn their place, roughly in order of how often people actually want them: your full reference list (the one that would not fit on the board), the preprint or paper itself, the dataset or code repository, and your lab or personal page. Pick one. A code that opens a page of four links is worse than a code that opens the thing you most want read — the reader is standing in a hall with a phone in one hand.
QR code for poster references: the highest-value use
A poster QR code for references is the one use that solves a real layout problem rather than adding a gimmick.
Putting the reference list behind a QR code works because references are the section that always overflows, they are the least useful thing to read at poster size, and they are exactly what a reader wants later rather than now. Every poster template puts the QR placeholder in the references section for this reason — including the e-poster templates, where a screen-sized board has even less room to spare. Keep a short list on the board and let the code carry the full one.
How to add a QR code in PowerPoint
Download the PNG from the generator above, then in PowerPoint use Insert → Pictures and place it in the QR slot.
In every poster template that slot is already a picture placeholder, so clicking the icon inside it drops the file straight in at the right size and position. The same move works on a closing slide of the scientific presentation templates: one code that opens the paper is worth more to an audience than a URL nobody will type. Print a test at final size before you send the board — scan it with your own phone, at the distance a reader would stand.
Poster QR code mistakes that cost you scans
The four that cost scans: screen-resolution codes, shorteners you do not control, no printed fallback, and no test scan.
Four that actually cost scans. A code generated at screen resolution and blown up for print — it will not scan. A free shortener you do not control: those links expire, and some get blocked on institutional networks, which means your code dies quietly months after the conference. No fallback: print the URL in small type under the code so a reader without a working camera can still type it. And an untested code — always scan the printed proof, not the screen.
Conferences and departments write this size in different ways — you may also see it listed as: qr code for scientific poster · qr code generator for research poster · academic poster qr code · poster qr code size · qr code for poster references · how to make a qr code for a poster · conference poster qr code
Related pages
All Poster Templates
Browse every Poster Templates page in SciFig's library.
Scientific 36x48 Poster Template
36 x 48 in poster templates, plus the 48 x 36 in landscape version — the size most North American conferences hang.
Scientific A0 Poster Template
A0 poster templates sized 841 x 1189 mm, in portrait and landscape, with the type scale already set for print.
Scientific A1 Poster Template
A1 poster templates sized 594 x 841 mm, portrait and landscape, with a type scale recomputed for the smaller board.
Scientific Poster Color Schemes
Six academic color schemes that stay readable in print, with hex values and a poster template in each one.
Scientific Conference Poster Template
Conference poster templates in every board size conferences actually hang, with the print type scale already applied.
Scientific E-Poster Template
E-poster templates in three shapes: a 16:9 screen canvas, and A0 portrait and landscape single-page versions.
Scientific Poster Generator
Design a conference research poster
Graphical Abstract Maker
Summarize your study in one panel
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about QR Code for a Scientific Poster.
Ready to publish?
Make your own QR Code for a Scientific Poster in minutes.
Start for freeFree to start · No credit card required · Built for researchers