Tutorial: Create a QR Code Out of Your Pixel-Style Artwork

If you need to use a QR code, for example, to create a link to your portfolio or a game, here's a way to make your scan code more beautiful and attention-grabbing. 3D Artist known on Reddit as Humble-Guard9853 shared a comprehensive tutorial on how to turn a pixel artwork into a working QR code.

In a Reddit post, the artist explains the process step by step on the example of the artwork by FatBlueJay. The method is based on extracting the minimum necessary information from the QR code, which is enough for a scanner to read, and putting it on the image you have; the work can be completed in Photoshop.

First, you need to create any conventional QR code and make sure every data pixel is displayed as a block of 3x3 pixels. Then, you should separate the code into two layers: the one with the border and control squares and the one with the data pixels, as shown in the image.

After that, you need to thin out the data pixels of Layer 2 so that only the center pixel remains from every 3x3 pixel block. Humble-Guard9853 shared a link to their custom tool, which can automate these steps.

The next steps include combining the pixel art image and the QR code layers and adjusting their opacity, blend mode, noise, and saturation. You can also remove some data pixels in areas that are important for your image.

After all that, the code should be scannable, and if not, you can tweak the Luminance Opacity value until it works.

Another easy and intuitive way for artists to add QR codes to their artwork is using Affinity Photo, which features the QR Code Tool:

And if you are interested in creating pixel art yourself, check out Dream Mix Games' guide on creating a pixel art shader in Blender: