QR Code & Data Matrix Labels for Shopify
LabelCraft - barcode labels for Shopify that print at exactly the size you set.
Every label prints at the size you set - measured, not approximate.
Overflow or a missing barcode always raises a visible warning before you print.
Modules snap to your printer's dots, so codes stay crisp and scan first time.
We never overwrite or reassign a product's existing barcode.
Most retail labels carry a one-dimensional barcode - an EAN-13, UPC-A or Code 128 - that a checkout scanner reads as a single number. A 2D code stores far more in a small square and can hold a web link, so a shopper or a staff member can scan it with a phone. LabelCraft prints two 2D symbologies on your Shopify labels: QR Code and Data Matrix.
QR code or 1D barcode - which should a label use?
Keep a 1D retail barcode (EAN or UPC, or Code 128 for an internal SKU) whenever the label is scanned at a till - that is what point-of-sale scanners expect. Reach for a QR code when you want the label to link somewhere: the product page, a how-to video, a reorder form, or a review request. A QR also packs more characters into a smaller space than a linear barcode, which helps on a crowded label.
Add a QR code to a label
- Open a template in Templates and select (or add) a barcode element.
- In the element's Format selector choose QR Code (or Data Matrix). A 2D code prints as a square with no human-readable number beneath it, so the "show barcode number" option doesn't apply to it.
- Pick what the code encodes (see below) and save. The live preview redraws the code as you change it.
Make the QR open your product page
By default a QR code encodes the same value as the barcode - the variant's barcode number. LabelCraft adds a "QR code links to" choice so a scan can instead open your storefront: Barcode value (default), Product page, or Product page (this variant) - the last opens the exact size or colour. Scanning the printed QR with any phone camera then opens that page. If a product has no storefront handle, LabelCraft skips that one QR with a warning rather than printing a broken link. This storefront link is a QR feature; Data Matrix always encodes the barcode value.
Data Matrix for very small items
Data Matrix is a 2D code built for tiny labels - jewelry tags, cosmetics, electronics, and medical (UDI) marking - where a QR or a linear barcode won't fit. It packs the same kind of data into an even smaller square. Like a QR code it carries no human-readable line, so the whole element is the code itself.
Will it scan at this size?
A 2D code reads only when its smallest cell (its module) prints as a whole number of printer dots and the square is large enough for a scanner to resolve. LabelCraft renders every code on the printer's dot grid - the same whole-dot precision behind its 0.1 mm sizing - and never silently shrinks a code to make it fit: if a QR or Data Matrix is too small to scan, it is flagged before the labels print instead of printed as an unreadable square. The editor also flags a 2D code that drops below the smallest scannable size as you build it. See 203 vs 300 DPI and why a barcode won't scan.
Scanning by a customer's phone deserves one extra margin: a store-link QR that clears every hard floor can still be fiddly to scan if its modules print finer than about 0.4 mm - on a 203 dpi thermal label that means giving a product-link QR a box of about 16.6 mm or more, and bigger never hurts. A shorter link helps too: the product page encodes a coarser, more forgiving grid than the variant link. LabelCraft flags a store-link QR whose box makes even the shortest possible store link print finer than this, while you build the template and again before printing.
Install free - 200 labels per month →
More guides: GS1 barcodes, barcode won't scan, price tags - or contact LabelCraft support.
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