Check a code
What it checks
- That it is a Digital Link at all. An ordinary marketing QR code cannot scan at a checkout, and plenty of packs carry one believing otherwise.
- The GTIN's check digit. The last digit is computed from the rest. If it does not match, a scanner refuses the code.
- Whose domain it is on. GS1's best practice is a domain you own, because it is an asset that survives the brand being sold.
- How big it prints. At the module size GS1 aims for, with the four-module quiet zone a QR needs on all four sides.
- Whether a phone reaches a page. A code that answers 404 is the worst outcome, and the easiest to miss.
- Whether a conformant resolver is behind it. The description file and the linkset are what let a retailer's system find your recall page or your instructions.
It does not check print quality. For that you need a verifier, which is a physical device that reads a printed sample.
Questions people ask
What is a GS1 Digital Link?
A QR code whose web address has the product's GTIN inside it, in a structure the GS1 standard defines. That one code does two jobs: a checkout scanner reads the product number straight out of the address without going online, and a phone opens whatever page the brand points it at.
Why does my code need checking before I print it?
Because a printed code cannot be changed. A wrong check digit, a code too small for a scanner, a quiet zone cropped by a designer or a page that answers 404 are all cheap to fix now and expensive to fix after a print run.
Does it work on codes that are not from QRFLOW?
Yes. Paste any GS1 Digital Link address from any provider. The checks are against the GS1 standard, not against us.
What does it actually check?
Whether the address is a Digital Link at all, whether the GTIN's check digit is right, whether it is on your own domain or somebody else's, how big it prints at the size GS1 aims for, whether a phone scanning it reaches a working page, and whether there is a conformant resolver behind it offering a linkset.
Do I need an account?
No. Paste an address and read the report. There is nothing to sign up for.
Make the code, not just check it
QRFLOW makes GS1 Digital Link codes, answers them on your own domain, and gives every product a page. From $29 a month.