

Paperlinks (YC S11) Brings Business-Optimized QR Codes To Life - hamiltonchan
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/10/paperlinks-brings-business-optimized-qr-codes-to-life/

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ChuckFrank
I'm confused. What's new here? Isn't every designer able to do this already?

[http://qranywhere.blogspot.com/2011/01/designer-qr-codes-
by-...](http://qranywhere.blogspot.com/2011/01/designer-qr-codes-by-
tappinn.html)

My apologies, I'm sure I must be missing something. Please walk me through
Paperlinks.

Paperlinks creates:

1, Custom branded QR Codes 2\. More sophisticated landing pages 3\.
Scanalytics for use metrics 4\. Something else? 5\. All for a monthly fee of
25$

How are you going to lock this market in, when it already seems so wide open
that anyone can do it?

Thanks in advance for the clarification .

~~~
ChuckFrank
<http://qrarts.com/> \- since 2009

random designers take a shot. [http://dzineblog.com/2010/08/20-qr-code-
business-cards-desig...](http://dzineblog.com/2010/08/20-qr-code-business-
cards-design-inspiration.html)

Amazing landing pages for Central Park's World Park Campaign via QR Codes

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OCyfV_k2_g>

4min

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hamiltonchan
Thanks for the compliments, rdl! When it comes to designer codes, I believe
that function trumps form. There is definitely no point to designing a code if
it cannot be scanned quickly and easily. The code in the TechCrunch article
should definitely scan easily across any QR reader on any smartphone. That
said, it is nearly impossible for us to test every reader on every phone.
Assuming a designer code can be scanned easily (which is a requirement on
every designer code we create), the benefits of branding the code are
tremendous. Scanthrough rates shoot up when you use a designer code, and they
definitely have the ability to become the talk of the town. We will put up
examples of designer codes on <http://www.paperlinks.com> in the very near
future so you can decide for yourselves!

~~~
cloudwalking
How do you create designer QR codes? Do you have artsy algorithms?

~~~
bengl
It's somewhat simpler than that. QR codes use error-correcting codes in order
to deal with things like damaged codes, etc. The QR code reader treats the
logo or art part of Paperlinks' codes as damage, and uses the error-correcting
code to fill in the blanks. I did the same thing (only less artistic) with
Groovebud's codes.
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/agpbffgdfhnhloelam...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/agpbffgdfhnhloelamgiofephdchgkle)

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rdl
Wow, these look amazing.

Given that QR codes are mainly just used as URLs, sacrificing some capacity
for better graphic design and integration into an existing design seems like
the right compromise.

Especially for markets where only a small subset know what a QR code is,
making it visually interesting makes incorporating a QR code into a document a
lot less of a sacrifice, too. And if it's really interesting, it might make
end users more interested in learning what it is.

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wccrawford
While I like the look of the customized QR Codes, they make it harder for the
scanners to read them. A lot harder. Most of the ones I've seen couldn't be
read at all. The one pictured there, I had to get it perfectly lined up and
filling the screen before my phone read it.

On the other hand, I generate normal QR Codes to scan all the time and I can
hold my phone off-center and far away and they scan instantly.

Is the extra prettiness really worth the extra hassle for the (potential)
customer?

Edit: After reading the comment by hamiltonchan, I decided to try scanning the
link again. It appears that from some angles, my phone WILL scan it instantly.
There's just 1 angle that makes it tough for some reason. (From down and to
the right.) I just happened to hit that angle first. I tried quite a few more
times and that's the only angle that lags, and it has never been as hard as
the the first time again.

~~~
there
what phone/app are you using? barcode scanner on my nexus s was able to read
it right away off my screen, at a weird angle.

~~~
wccrawford
Samsung Galaxy S.

I'm sure other factors are involved, too, but my point stands: Why make it
harder on the customer?

You can't assume that every customer will have a pristine image to scan, or
that they have a nice phone, etc etc. QR was designed with redundancy to help
the customer, but this defeats that.

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abava
See the simplest QR-code with landing page maker: <http://qr.linkstore.ru>
Just a plain copy-paste

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andrewcooke
[this reads like they copied a press release]

anyway, do error rates go up when you start removing the redundancy?

