How to Generate QR Code in Python

QR codes have become an easy and efficient way to share information. Whether it’s a website link, contact details, or a product, QR codes are widely used because they’re simple and fast to scan. In this guide, you’ll learn how to create your own QR code using Python in just a few steps!

Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Install Requirements

Before we start coding, you’ll need to install a Python library called qrcode. You’ll also need the Pillow library to handle image processing. Here’s how to install them:

1. Open your terminal or command prompt.
2. Type the following command and hit enter:

pip install qrcode[pil]

That’s it! You’re now ready to create your QR code.

Step 2: Write the Python Script

Now that we have the necessary libraries installed, let’s write a Python script that generates a QR code.

import qrcode
from PIL import Image

def generate_qr(url, fg_color="black", bg_color="white"):
    """
    Generate a QR code with the given URL and colors.
    
    Parameters:
    url (str): The URL or data to encode in the QR code.
    fg_color (str): Foreground color of the QR code (default is black).
    bg_color (str): Background color of the QR code (default is white).
    
    Returns:
    None
    """
    # Create a QR code object with basic settings
    qr = qrcode.QRCode(
        version=1,  # controls the size of the QR Code
        error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_L,  # error tolerance
        box_size=10,  # size of each box in the QR code grid
        border=4,  # thickness of the border
    )

    # Add the URL/data to the QR code
    qr.add_data(url)
    qr.make(fit=True)

    # Create an image from the QR code with the specified colors
    img = qr.make_image(fill_color=fg_color, back_color=bg_color).convert('RGB')

    # Save the image
    img.save("custom_qr_code.png")
    print(f"QR Code generated and saved as 'custom_qr_code.png'")

# Example usage
if __name__ == "__main__":
    # URL and colors (pass your own or use defaults)
    url_to_encode = "https://allinpython.com"
    foreground_color = "purple"  # Change if needed
    background_color = "white"  # Change if needed
    
    # Generate the QR code
    generate_qr(url_to_encode, fg_color=foreground_color,bg_color=background_color)

Output:

Code Explanation

In this script, you can pass three things:

1. URL: The website or data you want to encode.
2. Foreground color: The color of the QR code itself. By default, it’s black.
3. Background color: The color behind the QR code. By default, it’s white.

If you don’t specify any colors, the default colors (black and white) will be used.

How It Works

1. Creating the QR Code Object: We use the QRCode class to create a new QR code. The parameters control its size, error correction (how much damage it can handle), and the size of its grid boxes.
2. Adding Data: The add_data() function adds your URL or any other text to the QR code.
3. Generating the Image: The make_image() function creates the QR code image with the specified foreground and background colors. You can change these to make your QR code more visually appealing!
4. Saving the Image: Finally, the generated QR code is saved as an image file (custom_qr_code.png), which you can open and use.

Conclusion

And that’s it! You’ve successfully created a QR code generator using Python. You can easily change the colors and the data it encodes to fit your needs.

Whether you’re generating a QR code for your website or a personal project, this simple tool gives you all the flexibility you need. Thank you for reading this article, and I hope you learned something new from it. For more Python projects, click here, and I’ll see you in the next one.