Skip the typing of an address
One scan opens turn-by-turn directions in the Maps app already on the guest's phone — no app to install, no address to read off a leaflet.
Your directions code
PNG is exported at 1024×1024. Print at 2 cm minimum for a sticker or business card, 4 cm for a flyer, 8 cm for a wall sign.
How big should you print it?
Scannable directions to a real place
Blue Bottle Coffee, Austin TX
Encoded on this page. Scan it and Google Maps opens directions to that address, ready to start navigating.
Business name or street address?
If your place has a listing people search for, use the business name. Google Maps resolves it to the right pin, and the guest sees your hours and photos rather than a dot on a street. If you have no listing, use the full street address including city and postal code — that is what the geocoder needs to place the pin correctly.
For a venue with several entrances, include a distinguishing detail — "Blue Bottle, Airport Terminal" beats the bare brand name. A mis-placed pin costs a guest more time than a missing photo costs you.
Where a directions code earns its print
Flyers and postcards
The address block on a flyer is the smallest type anyone reads and the most likely to be mistyped. A code next to it removes the failure mode entirely.
Event invitations
Venue plus date plus a code. Guests start navigating on the way rather than asking for the address in the car park.
Delivery packaging
A return address on a takeaway box that opens navigation immediately saves a support thread when the courier cannot find the door.
Store windows
For a business whose name is hard to spell or pronounce out loud, a code that opens the pin removes the "which one is it, the one on the corner?" conversation.
Printing notes
A directions code carries very little data, so it stays a small, dense code even with a long address. That makes 2 cm workable for flyers, but 3 cm is the safer floor if the print is going through a commercial printer or onto textured stock.
Keep the address readable in text next to the code anyway. Some recipients will not scan, and a code that is the only address on a flyer is a single point of failure.
The pin comes from Google's geocoder, not from us. The code opens a Maps search link, which means Maps decides which pin to show. For a place with a verified listing this is exactly right; for a new or unmarked address, check that the search lands on the pin you expect before printing a run.
Maps QR code questions
Does this work for directions or just a location?
It opens Maps with the place searched and ready for navigation. On iPhone the sheet offers directions immediately; on Android it opens the place screen with a directions button.
Will it work for someone using Apple Maps instead of Google Maps?
Usually. iOS shows a prompt to open the link in Apple Maps instead, and the address carries over. On Android, Google Maps is the default and other map apps can be set as the handler for web links.
What if my place has no Google listing?
Use the full street address with city and postal code. Maps will place the pin from the address, though guests will see a pin rather than your hours or photos.
Can I add a Maps API key?
Not needed. This uses the public Maps URLs search format, which needs no key and no account on your side — which is why there is no signup step here.
Can I track how many people scanned it?
No. The code opens a Maps URL directly, with no redirect in the path, so there is nothing for us to count and nothing for anyone else to count without a dynamic service.