# QR code alternatives: a typed code for posters, slides and whiteboards > QR code alternatives that work from the back of the room. A short code typed on a phone opens the link, with an open count per poster. You print a QR code on the poster. It is small, it is at the bottom, and from where people stand it does not scan. One QR vendor's own poster guide says so: a code needs to be roughly one tenth as wide as the distance it is scanned from, and [without a clear call to action most people will not even try](https://u2l.ai/blog/qr-codes-on-posters). Print a short address next to it anyway. Then make the address the main thing. ## The alternative: a word instead of a square > **mon7pm** at inkink.in/@studiokind That works from the back of the room, from a slide photographed on a phone, from a poster seen through a bus window, and read aloud by a teacher. The phone can stay in the pocket until later. The visitor opens the page, and a box asks for the code. They type `mon7pm` and get tonight's signup. ![Creator page with a bottom sheet reading Type the code from the post, a code field, Open and Not now](https://inkink.in/blog/img/creator-sheet.webp) *A creator page on arrival (demo page): the code box first, the listed codes behind it.* ## When a QR code does not scan and a code does - **Distance.** By that one-tenth rule, a 3 cm QR square needs the phone within about 30 cm. A word printed large can be read from across the room. - **Print quality.** Glare on glossy stock [stops scans](https://u2l.ai/blog/qr-codes-on-posters). Letters still read. - **Spoken.** A teacher, an MC or a podcast host can say a word. Nobody can say a QR code. - **Screens.** A QR code on a projected slide has the same distance problem from the seats. A word does not. ## Where this fits - **Gyms and studios.** `timetable` on the door. `trial` on the flyer. `mon7pm` on the whiteboard for tonight's class signup. - **Classrooms and workshops.** `lab3` on the slide opens the worksheet, the dataset and the form. Change what it opens next term; the deck does not change. - **Events and talks.** `slides` at the end of the talk. `feedback` on the last slide. A code on a conference poster that opens the paper and your contact. - **Shops and cafes.** `menu` on the counter, `wifi` on the table card, `order` with a **Message on WhatsApp** button. ## What the code opens A **redirect** to one URL, or a **block**: a title, up to 2,000 characters of plain text, up to five images or links, and an action button. The free plan gives one button per block (**Message on WhatsApp**, **DM on Instagram** or **Message on Messenger**); on Pro, a block can have all three. The WhatsApp button opens a chat with you, with no message filled in. The block is a small page on inkink, so a timetable image or a worksheet list needs no website. A redirect shows the title and "Opening in 5", then hands off after five seconds. **Stay here** cancels it. ## QR code alternatives compared: QR only, QR plus a short URL, or a typed code A common setup is a QR code with a short URL printed under it. Here is how the three setups differ on a poster. | | Read from across a room | Can be said out loud | What the visitor does | |---|---|---|---| | QR code alone | Only if the code is about a tenth as wide as the distance | No | Scans with the camera | | QR code plus a short URL | The URL is the backup when the scan fails | Yes, if the URL is short | Scans, or types the URL | | A code on inkink | A word can be printed large | Yes | Types `inkink.in/@studiokind`, then `mon7pm` | A QR code with a URL under it is a good setup, and you can keep it: point the QR at your inkink code (see the FAQ). The difference is what the URL is. On inkink you print one address and a different word per poster, and each word has its own open count. If you only want a free page with an address to print, one-page builders do that. Squarespace says [Bio Sites are 100% free](https://biosites.com/) and need no Squarespace subscription. [Carrd's free tier](https://carrd.com/) allows up to three sites. On Carrd, removing the "Made with Carrd" branding needs a Pro plan from $9 a year, and [site analytics need Pro Standard](https://carrd.com/docs/pro/plans) ($19 a year) or higher. Both give you a page and its address. inkink gives you one page with many short words behind it. ## Set up 1. [inkink.in](https://inkink.in), continue with Google, claim a handle for the studio, class or event. 2. **New code**, fill it in, save. 3. Print the handle and the code: `inkink.in/@studiokind` and `mon7pm`. To skip the handle on the poster, turn on **Global code** for one code. A global code opens from the inkink home with no username, so the poster can say "go to inkink.in, type `#studiokind`" and `studiokind` can open this week's timetable. You get one global code free. No two global codes on inkink share a word, so pick one nobody else has taken. ![Code editor with switches for Show in the browse list (on), Global code (off) and Adult content (off)](https://inkink.in/blog/img/editor-code-form-listed.webp) *The bottom of the code form in the editor, on a demo account. **Global code** is the switch.* ![inkink home page with a code box set to # and the placeholder type a code, like ep1, above an Open button](https://inkink.in/blog/img/landing-hero.webp) *The inkink home. A global code typed here opens on the creator's own page. The "412k opens" ticker is demo copy.* ## Track which poster worked Each code counts its opens. Put `flyer` on the flyer and `poster` on the poster, both pointing at the same signup page, and you know which one did the work. An open is counted every time a code resolves, including a page reload, so compare the two counts rather than reading them as people. ## FAQ **Can I still print a QR code?** Yes. Point it at `inkink.in/@studiokind?code=mon7pm` and print the word next to it. Scanners scan, everyone else types. **Do visitors need an app or an account?** No. A browser and the word. **How long can a code be?** Up to 32 letters, digits and dashes. Short ones are the point. **Is there a free page builder I could print a URL for instead?** Squarespace says [Bio Sites](https://biosites.com/) are 100% free, and [Carrd](https://carrd.com/) has a free tier of up to three sites. Each gives you a page address. inkink gives you one address and a separate code per poster, each with its own count. --- Source: https://inkink.in/blog/qr-code-alternatives Published: 2026-10-03. Updated: 2026-10-03.