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How to put a QR code on a menu you can update without reprinting

A printed menu goes out of date the moment a price moves. Most venues solve that by reprinting, which costs money and takes days, or by taping a correction over the old one.

A dynamic QR code moves the problem somewhere you can actually reach it. The square on the table never changes. What it opens is a setting you can edit from your phone between services.

  1. 1

    Host the menu somewhere you control

    A PDF on your own site, Google Drive or Dropbox all work. reRoute does not host files — you keep the menu where it already lives, which also means you can update the file itself without touching anything here.

  2. 2

    Create a dynamic link pointing at it

    Give it a back-half you will recognise later, like rrte.link/oak-menu. This is the address that gets printed, so it is the one thing that has to stay fixed.

  3. 3

    Generate the code and print it

    Download at 1024px PNG or SVG. If you need one code per table, the print kit lays out twelve to an A4 sheet with a label and the short URL under each, so they can be cut and slotted straight into table tents.

  4. 4

    Change the destination when the menu changes

    Point the same link at the new PDF. Every code already printed — on tables, in the window, on the takeaway flyer — starts opening the new menu on the next scan. There is no limit on how often you do this.

  5. 5

    Watch what people actually scan

    Each scan records country, city, device, operating system, browser, referrer and time. Useful for the mundane question of whether the window code earns its space, or whether anybody scans the one by the till.

What this will not do

  • We do not host your menu file. If the link to your PDF breaks, the code opens a broken page — keep the file somewhere stable.
  • The free plan includes three dynamic links, which is enough for a menu, a WiFi code and a reviews code. Beyond that needs a paid plan.
  • Static QR codes are unlimited and free, but they cannot be changed after printing. For a menu, you want a dynamic one.

Tools used in this guide

Questions

Free QR code generatorPricingStart free

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