QR Code for a PDF

A QR code cannot hold a PDF — the file has to live somewhere online, and the code points at it. Once it is hosted, paste the address here and you have a scannable document in under a minute.

Make your document QR code

Link to any web page

Try something like https://example.com/

Live previewSample code
Sample QR code — enter your details to generate your own
Copy QR code image
Hide design presets

This code is static and permanent. To change where it points after printing, .

Why Use This Tool

Make a free QR code for a PDF. Host the file, paste its link, and download a PNG, SVG, or print-ready code for brochures, manuals, and price lists.

Free, Unlimited, No Signup

Generate as many QR codes as you need without an account, a trial, or a credit card. Free codes carry a small linkutm wordmark in the bottom corner; create an account to replace it with your own logo or remove it entirely.

Your Data Never Leaves the Browser

Every code is encoded and rendered locally in JavaScript. Wi-Fi passwords, contact details, and campaign URLs are never uploaded to a server or logged anywhere.

Designed, Not Just Generated

Twelve ready-made designs pairing eight module styles with shaped finder patterns, brand colours, and gradients. Export a code that looks like it belongs on your packaging, not like a default black square.

Print-Ready PNG, SVG, and PDF

Download a 1200px PNG for digital, a vector SVG that scales to a billboard without a single soft edge, or a print-ready PDF. Copy straight to the clipboard when you just need it in a deck.

How It Works

  1. 1

    Put the PDF somewhere it can be reached

    Your own website is the most reliable home. Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive all work if you set sharing to anyone with the link — a file left on default permissions gives every scanner a sign-in wall instead of your document.

  2. 2

    Copy the direct link and test it

    Open the link in a private browser window on your phone. If it asks you to log in, request access, or download an app, the sharing setting is wrong. Fix it before you print anything, because you cannot fix it afterwards on a static code.

  3. 3

    Generate the code

    Paste the address above, choose a design with strong contrast, and download the SVG for print or the PNG for screens. Shorter links make lighter, more forgiving patterns, so shorten a long cloud-storage URL first if you can.

  4. 4

    Print with the document in mind

    3cm square minimum on paper, larger on posters. Add a line of text next to it saying what the document is — 'Scan for the 2026 price list' gets far more scans than a bare code, because people will not scan something unlabelled.

Why a QR code cannot contain the file itself

A QR code stores roughly three kilobytes at most, and that is at a density no phone camera can realistically read. A one-page PDF is typically hundreds of times larger. So every PDF QR code in existence — including every tool that advertises otherwise — hosts the file somewhere and encodes the link. Tools that say they embed the PDF are hosting it on their servers, which matters, because the code dies when their free tier ends or their service does.

Make the PDF readable on a phone before you print the code

The most common failure is not the code, it is the document. An A4 landscape PDF full of small type opens on a phone as an unreadable rectangle that has to be pinched and dragged. If people will scan this on their feet, make a portrait, single-column version, or better, a mobile web page. The code is fine; the destination is what loses you the reader.

When the document changes, a static code becomes a problem

Price lists, menus, manuals, and spec sheets all get revised. With a free static code the address is baked into the pattern, so a new file at a new address means reprinting every brochure, sign, and label carrying the old code. The PDF type inside linkutm exists for exactly this: the code points at a short link your workspace owns, you upload a new version whenever you like, and the printed pattern never changes. You also get to see how many people opened it.

Free Tool vs linkutm Platform

Every code on this page is free to make and never expires. The linkutm platform adds the parts a printed code cannot do on its own — editing the destination, and counting the scans.

Feature
Free Tool
linkutm Pro
QR codes you can generate
Unlimited
25 a month on the free plan
Content types
10 static
All 13, including PDF, Multi-URL, and App
Design presets, colours, and gradients
12 presets
Full control
PNG, SVG, and PDF download
Works with no account
Editable destination after printing
Scan tracking and analytics
Location, device, and referrer breakdown
Branded short domain on the code
Custom back-half (your own short code)
Your own logo instead of the linkutm mark
Frames with a scan call to action
Error correction level control
Always H
L, M, Q, or H
Built-in UTM builder and templates
Folders, tags, and team workspaces

Frequently Asked Questions

Want To Know Who Scanned It?

A dynamic QR code keeps the same printed pattern while you change where it points, and shows you every scan — when, where, and on what device.