Simple QR Code Generator

Generate QR codes from the CLI or a small Tkinter GUI. Output images are saved as PNG files in ./output/ by default.

Changelog: CHANGELOG.md

Installation

Option A: Pre-built binary (recommended when available)

Download the latest release binary and put it on your PATH.

Linux example:

curl -L -o qrcode \
  https://github.com/placerte/qrcode/releases/latest/download/qrcode-linux-x86_64

chmod +x qrcode
sudo mv qrcode /usr/local/bin/qrcode

Windows and macOS builds follow the same pattern with the appropriate filename.

Option B: Run from source with uv (Python 3.9+)

git clone https://github.com/placerte/qrcode.git
cd qrcode
uv sync

You can then run the entry point with:

uv run qrcode --help

Option C: Run from source with venv + pip (Python 3.9+)

git clone https://github.com/placerte/qrcode.git
cd qrcode
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

You can then run the entry point with:

python -m qrcode_generator.qr --help

Typical usage

Basic CLI:

qrcode --url https://example.com --title "Example"

Basic CLI from source:

uv run qrcode --url https://example.com --title "Example"

No title:

qrcode --url https://example.com --no-title

Custom output directory and filename prefix:

qrcode --url https://example.com --title "Example" --output-dir ./output --file-prefix Demo-

GUI mode:

qrcode --gui

Batch file mode:

qrcode --batch-file ./examples/urls.txt

Batch file format rules:

• One URL per line
• Optional title in parentheses: https://example.com (Example title)
• Lines starting with # are ignored
• If no title is provided, the QR is generated without a printed title and the filename is derived from the URL

Build (PyInstaller)

Install build dependencies:

uv sync --extra dev

Use a Python 3.12 virtualenv when building the binary. Current PyInstaller support for Python 3.13 is not reliable for this app, and the resulting executable can crash on launch.

Build a single-file executable:

uv run --group dev pyinstaller qrcode.spec

The executable will be in dist/.

Development

Run tests:

uv run pytest

Formatting is optional and intentionally not pinned in project metadata. If you want to use black, install or run it separately in your own environment.

Optional dump tooling is intentionally not pinned in the project metadata. If you want to use produm for one-off repository dumps, install or run it separately in your own environment.

Notes

• Output files are saved to ./output/ by default.
• CLI prompts appear when required values are missing.
• The GUI updates the preview live when fields change.
• Titles are rendered with the best available TrueType font on the system. If none is found, Pillow falls back to a basic bitmap font and the title may look rough.

TODO / Wish List

• Package the app in a bin for broader public
  • Verify licence compliance of packages
• Implement a simple GUI
• Provide better documentation for the arguments / usage in the README
• Finish the parser refactor
• Improve the CLI app ergonomics further