Generate QR Codes using PHP

QR code (Quick Response code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode. PHP QR Code is an open-source (LGPL) library for generating QR Code, 2-dimensional barcode. Based on libqrencode C library, provides API for creating QR Code barcode images (PNG, JPEG thanks to GD2). Implemented purely in PHP, with no external dependencies (except GD2 if needed).

In this tutorial we will explain how to Generate QR Codes using PHP. I am using phpqrcode library to generate QR code to store data. This is a very simple example, you can just copy paste and change according to your requirement.

Also Read : How to Generate Barcode Generator using PHP

Features:

Supports QR Code versions (size) 1-40
Numeric, Alphanumeric, 8-bit and Kanji encoding. (Kanji encoding was not fully tested, if you are japan-encoding enabled you can contribute by verifing it 🙂 )
Implemented purely in PHP, no external dependencies except GD2
Exports to PNG, JPEG images, also exports as bit-table
TCPDF 2-D barcode API integration
Easy to configure
Data cache for calculation speed-up
Provided merge tool helps deploy library as a one big dependency-less file, simple to “include and do not wory”
Debug data dump, error logging, time benchmarking
100% Open Source, LGPL Licensed
for more detail click here
download and Extract PHP QR Code Library

Before started to implement the Generate QR Codes using PHP, look files structure:

generate-qr-codes-using-php
- library/phpqrcode
- css
  - style.css
- images
- templates
  - header.php
  - footer.php
- index.php
- function.php

Create HTML Form Date input. file named index.php

<?php 
require_once "function.php";
include('templates/header.php');

if (!empty($_POST['level'])) {
    $errorCorrectionLevel = $_POST['level'];    
} else {
    $errorCorrectionLevel = 'L';
}


if (!empty($_POST['size'])) {
    $matrixPointSize = (int)$_POST['size'];
} else {
    $matrixPointSize = 4;
}


if (!empty($_POST['str_data'])){
    $strData = $_POST['str_data'];
} else {
    $strData = 'https://techarise.com/generate-qr-codes-using-php';
}

?>
<form name="datetime"  method="post">
    <section class="showcase">
      <div class="container">
        <div class="pb-2 mt-4 mb-2 border-bottom">
          <h2>Generate QR Codes using PHP</h2>
        </div>
        <div class="row align-items-center">  
          <div class="form-group col-md-8">
            <label for="inputEmail4">Data</label>
            <input type="text" class="form-control" id="str-data" name="str_data" value="<?php if(!empty($_POST["str_data"])) { print $_POST["str_data"]; } else { print $strData; } ?>">  
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="row align-items-center">  
           <div class="form-group col-md-4">
                <label for="inputEmail4">ECC</label>
                <select name="level" class="form-control" id="qr-level">
                    <option value="L" <?php if($errorCorrectionLevel=='L') { echo 'selected';} ?> >L - smallest</option>
                    <option value="M" <?php if($errorCorrectionLevel=='M') { echo 'selected';} ?> >M</option>
                    <option value="Q" <?php if($errorCorrectionLevel=='Q') { echo 'selected';} ?> >Q</option>
                    <option value="H" <?php if($errorCorrectionLevel=='H') { echo 'selected';} ?> >H - best</option>
                </select>
            </div>
            <div class="form-group col-md-2">
                <label for="inputEmail4">Size</label>
                <select class="form-control" name="size" id="qr-size">
                    <?php 
                    for($i=1;$i<=40;$i++) {
                        echo '<option value="'.$i.'"'.(($matrixPointSize==$i)?' selected':'').'>'.$i.'</option>';
                    }
                    ?>
                </select>
            </div>
            <div class="col">
                <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary mt-3 float-left">Generate QR</button>
            </div>
        </div>
        <div class="row align-items-center">  
          <div class="form-group col-md-6">
            <label for="inputEmail4">
              <?php
                // generate QR Codes
                $qrcode = generateQRCodes($strData, $errorCorrectionLevel, $matrixPointSize, 'tmp');
                echo '<img src="tmp/'.basename($qrcode).'" />';
              ?>
            </label>
          </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    </section>
</form>
<?php include('templates/footer.php');?>

<?php

require_once "function.php";

include('templates/header.php');

if (!empty($_POST['level'])) {

$errorCorrectionLevel = $_POST['level'];

} else {

$errorCorrectionLevel = 'L';

}

if (!empty($_POST['size'])) {

$matrixPointSize = (int)$_POST['size'];

} else {

$matrixPointSize = 4;

}

if (!empty($_POST['str_data'])){

$strData = $_POST['str_data'];

} else {

$strData = 'https://techarise.com/generate-qr-codes-using-php';

}

<h2>Generate QR Codes using PHP</h2>

</div>

</div>

<option value="L" <?php if($errorCorrectionLevel=='L') { echo 'selected';} ?> >L - smallest</option>

</select>

</div>

<?php

for($i=1;$i<=40;$i++) {

echo '<option value="'.$i.'"'.(($matrixPointSize==$i)?' selected':'').'>'.$i.'</option>';

}

</select>

</div>

<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary mt-3 float-left">Generate QR</button>

</div>

<?php

// generate QR Codes

$qrcode = generateQRCodes($strData, $errorCorrectionLevel, $matrixPointSize, 'tmp');

echo '<img src="tmp/'.basename($qrcode).'" />';

</label>

</div>

</section>

</form>

<?php include('templates/footer.php');?>

Generate QR Codes Function. file named function.php

<?php
function generateQRCodes($strData, $level, $size, $folder) {

	// include QR Codes Lib
	include('library/phpqrcode/qrlib.php');

    //set it to writable location, a place for temp generated PNG files
    $PNG_TEMP_DIR = dirname(__FILE__).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.$folder.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
    
    //html PNG location prefix
    $PNG_WEB_DIR = $folder.'/';

    //ofcourse we need rights to create temp dir
    if (!file_exists($PNG_TEMP_DIR))
        mkdir($PNG_TEMP_DIR);
    
    $filename = $PNG_TEMP_DIR.'test.png';
   
    $errorCorrectionLevel = $level;  

    $matrixPointSize = $size;

    if (isset($strData)) { 
    
        //it's very important!
        if (trim($strData) == '')
            die('data cannot be empty! <a href="?">back</a>');
        // user data
        $filename = $PNG_TEMP_DIR.'test'.md5($strData.'|'.$errorCorrectionLevel.'|'.$matrixPointSize).'.png';
        QRcode::png($strData, $filename, $errorCorrectionLevel, $matrixPointSize, 2);    
        
    } else {    
    
        //default data
        QRcode::png($string, $filename, $errorCorrectionLevel, $matrixPointSize, 2);    
        
    }     
    // benchmark
    //QRtools::timeBenchmark();    
    return $filename;
}
?>

<?php

function generateQRCodes($strData, $level, $size, $folder) {

// include QR Codes Lib

include('library/phpqrcode/qrlib.php');

//set it to writable location, a place for temp generated PNG files

$PNG_TEMP_DIR = dirname(__FILE__).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.$folder.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;

//html PNG location prefix

$PNG_WEB_DIR = $folder.'/';

//ofcourse we need rights to create temp dir

if (!file_exists($PNG_TEMP_DIR))

mkdir($PNG_TEMP_DIR);

$filename = $PNG_TEMP_DIR.'test.png';

$errorCorrectionLevel = $level;

$matrixPointSize = $size;

if (isset($strData)) {

//it's very important!

if (trim($strData) == '')

die('data cannot be empty! <a href="?">back</a>');

// user data

$filename = $PNG_TEMP_DIR.'test'.md5($strData.'|'.$errorCorrectionLevel.'|'.$matrixPointSize).'.png';

QRcode::png($strData, $filename, $errorCorrectionLevel, $matrixPointSize, 2);

} else {

//default data

QRcode::png($string, $filename, $errorCorrectionLevel, $matrixPointSize, 2);

}

// benchmark

//QRtools::timeBenchmark();

return $filename;

}

Create files named (header.php and footer.php)

This file contains the header and footer section of the webpage. The Bootstrap library is used to provide a better UI, so, include it in the header and footer section.

header.php

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
  <meta name="description" content="">
  <meta name="author" content="">

  <title>Integrate CCAvenue Payment Gateway using PHP | Tech Arise</title>
  <link rel="icon" type="image/ico" href="<?php print HTTP_IMAGE_PATH; ?>favicon.ico">
  <!-- Bootstrap core CSS -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/4.3.1/css/bootstrap.min.css" />
  <!-- Custom fonts for this template -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/5.7.2/css/all.min.css" />
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/simple-line-icons/2.4.1/css/simple-line-icons.css" />
  <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lato:300,400,700,300italic,400italic,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
  <!-- Custom styles for this template -->
  <link href="css/style.css" rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body>
  <!-- Navigation -->
  <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-dark bg-dark static-top header-bg-dark" style="background: ##FFFFFF!;">
  <div class="container">
    <a class="navbar-brand font-weight-bold" href="https://techarise.com"><h1>Tech Arise</h1></a>
    <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarResponsive" aria-controls="navbarResponsive" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
          <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
        </button>
    <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarResponsive">
      <ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto">
        <li class="nav-item active">
          <a class="nav-link" href="https://techarise.com">Home
                <span class="sr-only">(current)</span>
              </a>
        </li>
        <li class="nav-item">
          <a class="nav-link" href="https://techarise.com/php-free-script-demos/">Live Demo</a>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </div>
  </div>
</nav>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<head>

<title>Integrate CCAvenue Payment Gateway using PHP | Tech Arise</title>

</head>

<body>

<a class="navbar-brand font-weight-bold" href="https://techarise.com"><h1>Tech Arise</h1></a>

</button>

<a class="nav-link" href="https://techarise.com">Home

<span class="sr-only">(current)</span>

</a>

</li>

</li>

</ul>

</div>

</nav>

footer.php

<!-- Footer -->
  <footer class="footer bg-light footer-bg-dark">
    <div class="container">
      <div class="row">
        <div class="col-lg-6 h-100 text-center text-lg-left my-auto">
          <ul class="list-inline mb-2">
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">About</a>
            </li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">&sdot;</li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">Contact</a>
            </li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">&sdot;</li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">Terms of Use</a>
            </li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">&sdot;</li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">Privacy Policy</a>
            </li>
          </ul>
          <p class="text-muted small mb-4 mb-lg-0">Copyright &copy;  2011 - <?php print date('Y', time());?> <a href="https://techarise.com/">TECHARISE.COM</a> All rights reserved.</p>
        </div>
        <div class="col-lg-6 h-100 text-center text-lg-right my-auto">
          <ul class="list-inline mb-0">
            <li class="list-inline-item mr-3">
              <a href="#">
                <i class="fab fa-facebook fa-2x fa-fw"></i>
              </a>
            </li>
            <li class="list-inline-item mr-3">
              <a href="#">
                <i class="fab fa-twitter-square fa-2x fa-fw"></i>
              </a>
            </li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">
                <i class="fab fa-instagram fa-2x fa-fw"></i>
              </a>
            </li>
          </ul>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </footer>
  <script>
    var baseurl = "<?php print site_url();?>";
  </script>
  <!-- Bootstrap core JavaScript -->
  <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
  <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/4.3.1/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script>  
</body>
</html>

<a href="#">About</a>

</li>

<a href="#">Contact</a>

</li>

<a href="#">Terms of Use</a>

</li>

<a href="#">Privacy Policy</a>

</li>

</ul>

</div>

</a>

</li>

</a>

</li>

</a>

</li>

</ul>

</div>

</footer>

var baseurl = "<?php print site_url();?>";

</script>

</body>

</html>

Demo Download