Creative Ideas - QR Codes in Catalogs

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About this lesson

Learn how to use Quick Response (QR) Codes, which are device-scanable images that will deliver information or send the user to a product webpage.

Lesson versions

Multiple versions of this lesson are available, choose the appropriate version for you:

2016, 2019/365.

Quick reference

Creative Ideas - QR Codes in Catalogs

A Quick Response or “QR” Code is a device-scannable image that will send the user to a website and/or return information about the scanned product, like a marketing message.

When to use

Including a QR code image into a catalog is a creative idea to provide more information than possible on a print publication, for instance, sending the user to a website product page.

Instructions

  • Continue from the previous lesson on how to Create a Catalog.

It will be necessary to create the QR Codes and save them to your database location. This is a time consuming step, but a necessary one.

  • Create the QR Codes by searching the internet for a “Free QR Code Generator”. At the time of writing this instruction page, the site www.QRstuff.com is used for the video lesson.
    1. Enter the website or text message for each product.
    2. Click Download QR Code for each product.
    3. Make sure you can find where the QR Codes saved on your computer system.
       
  • Edit the catalog database and add a new field called QR Code and update the catalog layout.
    1. To edit the existing database in Publisher, you will click Catalog Tools, Format.  Then click Edit List:                                                                                                                          
    2. Select the name of the Data Source, then click Edit.
    3. Add the field QR Code then enter the file locations of each QR Code that corresponds to the product on each line: 

  • The entire ribbon will be active at this point and you can finish the catalog project.

 

  • To merge product information into the Catalog pages, click the Text Field button and arrange the fields to your preference.
    1. This is a good time to also format the font of the Text Fields.
    2. Be careful not to delete the arrows on either side of the text field or it won’t find the corresponding database entry.
  • To include a QR Code image with the catalog items, click the Picture Field button and place the QR Code field into the layout to your preference.      
    Note: if images do not appear as expected, confirm the database contains the correct file location of each picture as well as the file type extension: .JPG  or  .TIF  or .PNG
  • To arrange the entire catalog, click the Layout gallery and choose a layout of your preference.
  • When the fields are all in place, click the Merge to New button and review the catalog for any changes or edits, then print the finished catalog.

 

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  • 00:05 Okay, coming right off the previous video video about catalogs.
  • 00:07 We're going to take that catalog a step further,
  • 00:09 and we're going to add a thing called a QR code.
  • 00:12 Now, if you've never heard of a QR code, I have got a site open, it's qrstuff.com.
  • 00:17 At this point in time, this is a free site, and this is called a QR code.
  • 00:22 QR stands for quick response.
  • 00:25 Most people can take their smartphones, point them at a QR code.
  • 00:28 It will read it and give you a message.
  • 00:31 It might take you to a website of your choice.
  • 00:34 It might take you to a Facebook listing, it might just show you plain text
  • 00:39 that the creator of the QR code typed in there.
  • 00:42 Now I went ahead and typed in some plain text.
  • 00:45 This is a QR code for that text.
  • 00:48 And now all I have to do is hit DOWNLOAD QR CODE.
  • 00:51 Now the word download simply means save to your computer.
  • 00:54 So I went ahead and downloaded it, and
  • 00:56 I'm going to go ahead and click the View my download, and there it is.
  • 01:01 Okay, and then hit the Open folder, and
  • 01:03 it'll show me exactly where this QR code has been saved.
  • 01:06 When I do find it, now I can go ahead and
  • 01:09 I can move that to my picture file to go along with my catalogs.
  • 01:14 Notice that this is called a ping, PNG file.
  • 01:17 So I'll go ahead and move that.
  • 01:21 All right, I cut them from one file, from my download file and I put them in this
  • 01:25 other one and so go into my catalog database and add a QR code field.
  • 01:32 So let's go ahead and do that.
  • 01:33 Back to my catalog, right over here to my edit list.
  • 01:37 I'll go ahead and click on Japan Flowers, click Edit, and
  • 01:41 I'm going to add customized fields, yes.
  • 01:45 And add my QR code, and hit OK.
  • 01:49 Now I'm going to have a brand-new field.
  • 01:50 And let's see, I'm going to move that down here beside picture and hit all right.
  • 01:56 So now find where this QR code is stored in the file path.
  • 02:01 Well, happen to have it open right out here in my File system, I'll go ahead and
  • 02:06 click on this.
  • 02:07 Copy it, I know it takes a little work to do this, but
  • 02:11 it's going to be worth it if you actually want to use QR codes.
  • 02:14 I'll paste that in there with a forward slash, but
  • 02:17 now I've gotta go get the name of that QR code.
  • 02:20 So I'm going to right-click and Rename is the quickest way to Open up that, copy it,
  • 02:26 now the only thing I have to remember is to put a .png at the end, okay.
  • 02:30 Now again the way I did that, I did a right-click on the QR code, rename,
  • 02:35 opens up the file name.
  • 02:36 I can copy, and now I'll come right back here to this part.
  • 02:42 I'm still editing.
  • 02:43 I'm going to paste, but I add the .png.
  • 02:47 Remember without that file type it will never find your QR code.
  • 02:52 All right, I'll go ahead and finish these up.
  • 02:54 Just a moment.
  • 02:57 Now, when you've got all your QR code picture, file names in there,
  • 03:00 go ahead and hit OK.
  • 03:01 Of course, it's going to ask you to save it, yes, hit OK again.
  • 03:05 I'll add the QR code to the section.
  • 03:08 So it is a picture field so I'll go ahead and add a Picture or QR Code field.
  • 03:13 It knows it's a picture.
  • 03:14 So add that one.
  • 03:16 Move it right over here.
  • 03:17 Take a look at what's happening over on the left.
  • 03:19 Now I've got a catalog being designed with pictures and QR codes right beside them.
  • 03:24 Of course I can make that larger.
  • 03:26 But now you can lay out a catalogue on your countertop at your store,
  • 03:30 and people can just point their device right to that QR code.
  • 03:33 It'll read it and give them some kind of a marketing information or
  • 03:37 take them to a website of your choosing.
  • 03:39 It's an awesome feature.
  • 03:41 But let me give you a warning, it's a lot of work, okay?
  • 03:44 So if you thought a 100 different SKUs or products for
  • 03:48 sale you're going to have to come in here and make a 100 different QR codes.
  • 03:52 It's very time consuming.
  • 03:54 I don't know If you want to do that, but
  • 03:56 it's important that you know you can do that.
  • 03:59 Now a barcode will only show 16 characters, but
  • 04:03 a QR code will show 1000 characters, and that is why the industry is going to QR
  • 04:07 codes rather than the old standard of barcodes.
  • 04:12 All right when we're done with this,
  • 04:13 I simply hit my Merge to New and up opens my new catalog.
  • 04:18 And here we go.
  • 04:20 Scroll down and there we have it, all my descriptions, my pictures, and
  • 04:23 my QR codes.
  • 04:24 So there you go, have fun with that.

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