How to turn a PDF into a QR code
- Drop the PDF on the box above, or press Choose files and pick it. No account is needed to start.
- The link comes back in a few seconds. Press Open in Solta on the same card.
- Open the ⋯ menu at the top right and choose QR code. Then Download PNG or Download SVG.
- Before you print it, press Claim it on the card and sign in: without an account the link works for 24 hours. Claiming keeps the same address, so the code you downloaded keeps working.
Later, the same QR code item is in the site's ⋯ menu when you open it, and on its card in your library. The code is made in your browser, from the link alone: the address isn't sent anywhere to be drawn, and there is no redirect service between the code and your PDF. Scanning it opens the PDF in Solta's viewer, which draws the pages itself, so it opens on phones whose browser has no PDF viewer of its own.
Replace the PDF, keep the QR code
A menu changes its prices, a programme its times. The printed code doesn't need to change with them: it holds the site's link, and a new version of the site keeps that link. Open the site in Solta, choose Make changes, then Upload a new version, and upload the new PDF. It is saved as a draft, and the code keeps opening the old PDF until you publish the new one, so nobody scans a half-finished change.
Each published version also keeps an address of its own (/v/2/, and so on), so the old PDF can still be read there. Free keeps the last 5 versions of each site; Pro and Team keep every one. How links and versions work.
Who can open it when they scan
A QR code on a poster is a link anyone walking past can read, so choose who it opens for before you print. A new site starts as Unlisted: anyone with the link, or the code, can open it, and search engines are asked not to index it.
- Public, Unlisted or Private (only you and the people who edit it), on every plan.
- Password, on every plan: scanning asks for the password, and nothing of the PDF is sent until it is right. Free has 1 password-protected site at a time, once your email is confirmed.
- Invited, on Pro and Team: only the email addresses you add, each verified once, with no account.
Changing who can open it never changes the link, so the printed code stays the same. On every plan, the link can also stop opening on a date you choose, for an event that ends. Who can open a site.
Printing the QR code
- Use the SVG for print. It is drawn as shapes, so it stays sharp at any size. The PNG is 1,024 pixels square, about 8.7 cm wide at 300 dpi: plenty for a slide or a document.
- Keep it black on white, with its white border. Both files come that way. A scanner needs the contrast and the quiet margin round the code, so don't invert it, set it on a photo, or crop the border off.
- Make it big enough for the distance. A common rule of thumb is a code about a tenth as wide as the distance it is scanned from: 2 cm or so on a card held in the hand, much larger on a poster across a room.
- Scan a printed proof with a phone or two before you print a hundred, and open what it shows.
- Say what it opens. A line under the code, such as “Scan for the menu”, tells people why to scan it.
See how often it was opened
Solta counts views of the link, not scans: someone who scans the code and opens the PDF is counted as a view like anyone else, by day, with countries and devices. Visitors are counted, not identified: there is no cookie, and you can't see who opened it.
How far back you can look: 30 days on Free, 365 on Pro, and all of it on Team. To know who, on Pro and Team the link can ask for an email address before the PDF opens. What gets counted.
Other ways to make a QR code for a PDF
Any QR code generator can draw a code for a link you already have, such as a PDF shared from Google Drive or Dropbox: the code then opens whatever that link opens. Two services that take the PDF itself, as their own pages described them on 20 October 2026:
| Service | For free | When the PDF changes |
|---|---|---|
| Hovercode | A tool with no sign-up for PDFs up to 2 MB; a free account has 3 dynamic codes in total, with PDFs up to 10 MB and scan counts | The tool's code is fixed to the file: an updated PDF gets a new link and a new code. A dynamic code can be pointed at the new one |
| tiiny.host | A QR code for every upload; 1 active project, PDFs up to 0.5 MB, 5,000 visits a month | Its page says the code always points to the latest version |
| Solta Free | A code for every site, as PNG or SVG; PDFs up to 25 MB, 200 MB in all, a password on 1 site | The same link and code; the last 5 versions kept, each at its own address |
Only need the link, to send rather than print? PDF to link covers what the link does, comments on the PDF and the limits.
Questions
How do I make a QR code for a PDF?
Drop the PDF on the box at the top of this page and you get its link in a few seconds. Press Open in Solta, open the ⋯ menu and choose QR code, then download it as a PNG or an SVG. Scanning it opens the PDF in the browser.
Is it free?
Yes. Publishing the PDF needs no account, and the Free plan has no end date: PDFs up to 25 MB each, 200 MB of storage and a small Solta badge on the page. The QR code costs nothing on any plan: it is drawn in your browser from the link.
Will the QR code still work if I change the PDF?
Yes. The code holds the site's link, and a new version keeps the same link. Choose Make changes, then Upload a new version, upload the new PDF and publish it: the printed code opens the new one.
Does the QR code expire?
The code itself never does: it is only the link, drawn as a picture. It opens the PDF for as long as the link works. Without an account that is 24 hours, so claim the site by signing in before you print. After that it works until you delete the site, or until an end date you set for the link, on every plan.
Can I put a password on the PDF behind the QR code?
Yes, on every plan: scanning the code then asks for the password before anything of the PDF is sent. Free has 1 password-protected site at a time. On Pro and Team, Invited lets only the email addresses you add open it.
Can I see how many people scanned it?
Solta counts views of the link, not scans: someone who scans the code and opens the PDF is a view like any other, by day, country and device, with no cookie and no name. You can look back 30 days on Free, 365 on Pro, and all of it on Team.
PNG or SVG?
For print, the SVG: it is drawn as shapes, so it stays sharp at any size. The PNG is for a slide, a document or anywhere an image file is easier. Both are the same code.