3 min read
What is a QR code, and how do you print one that scans?
A QR code is a square barcode a phone camera can read in a second. On a wine label it is the door to the e-label. Here is how it works, what the EU rules say about placing it, and how to make sure it scans on a curved bottle in a dim shop.
A QR code is a two-dimensional barcode: a square grid of black and white modules that stores text, usually a web address. It was invented in 1994 by Denso Wave, a Japanese car-parts manufacturer, to track components on the production line. Since 2017 the camera app on almost every phone reads them natively, which is what turned a logistics tool into the easiest way to get a consumer from a bottle to a web page.
How a scan works
- The phone camera spots the three large squares in the corners and works out the code’s orientation.
- It decodes the grid into the stored address. The code also carries error-correction data, so it still reads when part of it is scratched or hidden.
- The phone offers to open the address. One tap and the page loads.
No app, no typing, no account. The whole thing takes about a second.
QR codes on wine labels
Under Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, the ingredient list and nutrition declaration for wine may be provided “by electronic means” identified on the label. The code itself is not mandatory, but it is how almost every producer meets the rule, because the alternative is printing the full text in every market language.
Three things the rules and the Commission’s guidance ask for:
- The word “Ingredients” next to the code. A bare code, or an “i” symbol, does not tell the consumer what it leads to. The identification has to be in the same field of vision as the other compulsory particulars. Regulation (EU) 2026/471 lets the Commission define a common pictogram later; until that act exists, use the word.
- The page behind it carries no marketing and no tracking. Which also means you cannot use a free consumer QR service that logs scans.
- The link must keep working for as long as the wine is on the market.
Static or dynamic?
A static code encodes the final web address directly. If the address ever changes, every bottle carrying that code is broken. A dynamic code encodes a short address that redirects to the current page, so you can move or update the destination without reprinting. For wine labels, where the printed code may outlive the page it was created for by years, dynamic is the only sensible choice. Grapely codes are dynamic, and the e-label behind them can be edited at any time.
Printing a code that actually scans
- Size. The regulation sets no minimum, but phones struggle below about 15 mm. Test the real printed size, not the screen.
- Contrast. Dark code on a light background. Avoid printing on metallic or textured stock, or add a white box behind the code.
- Quiet zone. Keep a clear margin around the code, at least the width of two modules.
- Curvature. On a narrow bottle, keep the code small enough that it sits on a near-flat area.
- Export in vector. Give your designer an SVG, EPS or PDF, not a screenshot. Grapely exports all three, plus PNG.
- Scan the proof. Before the print run, scan the printer’s proof with three different phones.
Try it
Your first three e-labels, QR codes included, are free. Create your account at app.grapely.io or compare plans.
Related reading
- What is a wine e-label?: the page the code opens
- What changed in 2026: including the coming harmonised QR identifier
- QR code
- wine QR code
- e-label
- wine labeling
