Pricing and privacy at QR Kontor
Static QR codes are free, with no sign-up, no limit and no watermark. Dynamic QR codes, where you can change the destination after printing, cost €4.99 one-time per code. No subscription, no recurring fees.
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Where a YouTube code actually helps
Not everywhere, but in three places fairly reliably.
On products and in manuals. An assembly video replaces three pages of text and saves support requests. The code on the box or the leaflet is the shortest route there, and it works the same in every language.
On posters and booth walls. A trailer or a reference project cannot be printed. The code can.
On training materials. Put codes next to the matching chapters of a manual and you connect paper and video without anyone having to search.
Where it helps little: inside the video itself, because hardly anyone points their phone at their own screen, and on anything that is moving.
Step 1: Get the right address
For a single video: on YouTube, tap "Share" below the video and copy the short address. It looks like this:
https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ
Use this short form, not youtube.com/watch?v=…. It contains fewer characters, so the pattern gets coarser and the code can be printed smaller.
For the channel: open the channel page and copy the address from the address bar. With a handle set up it looks like this:
https://youtube.com/@yourchannel
For a playlist: open the playlist, copy the address. Make sure no video ID is attached, otherwise the scan starts in the middle of the list.
Step 2: Start time and details
A few additions that are rarely known:
| What you want | What to append | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Start at second 90 | ?t=90 |
youtu.be/ABC123?t=90 |
| Suggest subscribing right away | ?sub_confirmation=1 on the channel address |
youtube.com/@channel?sub_confirmation=1 |
The start time is worth it for long videos: if you print the code next to step four, the viewer should land at step four, not at the beginning.
Step 3: Create and print the code
Paste the address above, style it, download. SVG for the print shop, PNG for screens and presentations.
On size: the scanning distance decides everything. As a rough rule, the edge length should be about one tenth of the distance it is scanned from.
- Leaflet or box, scanned from 25 cm (10 in): from 2.5 cm (1 in)
- In-store display, scanned from 1 m (3 ft): from 10 cm (4 in)
- Booth wall, scanned from 3 m (10 ft): from 30 cm (12 in)
And always a line next to it saying what the viewer can expect: "Assembly in 3 minutes" gets more scans than "Watch video", because it names the effort.
Why dynamic is better on printed material
YouTube addresses are stable as long as the video exists. That is exactly the problem.
Videos get reshot when the product changes. Channels get moved. Sometimes a video is set to private because music was playing in the background without the rights. In all of these cases a static code on the printed box points at nothing from that moment on, and the box sits in the warehouse for another two years.
A dynamic code points to a fixed short address whose destination you can swap at any time. New video, same packaging. On top, you see how often it gets scanned, which for product inserts is the only way to learn anything about usage at all.
With us €4.99 one-time per code, no subscription, statistics included. Other providers charge $49 to $197 for a "lifetime" code. Ours stays at €4.99 because a dynamic code is only a short redirect, no video or media stored on our side, on EU hosting that costs little to run.
FAQ
Does the code open the YouTube app or the browser? If the app is installed, it usually opens automatically. Otherwise the video plays in the browser. Both work, you do not have to set anything.
Can I see how many views came through the code? Not with a static code. With a dynamic one you see the scans with us and the views as before in YouTube Analytics. The two numbers always differ a little, because not every scan leads to a counted view.
Are UTM parameters useful? Hardly for YouTube itself, the analysis there is limited. They make the address longer and the code finer. If you want to tell sources apart, use one dynamic code per print item instead.
Is a code on the video thumbnail in social networks worth it? Rarely. Anyone already on their phone would rather tap than fetch a second device. Codes work where paper or a wall stands between the person and the screen.
Need a dynamic QR code?
Change the target any time, even after printing. €4.99 one-time, no subscription.
Start for free