Jim's TrueType QR Code Font
109 points
6 hours ago
| 9 comments
| github.com
| HN
https://qr.jim.sh/
athenot
3 hours ago
[-]
Maybe it's not practical for day-to-day use but the way this hacks the font to produce something completely different is amazing!
reply
shreddit
4 hours ago
[-]
It doesn’t seem to like spaces that much, the code for [QR coded] is broken for me on safari ios. When the space is removed it’s a working qrcode again
reply
diroussel
2 hours ago
[-]
The page addresses this issue, saying that browser text wrapping can cause issues and gives advice on how to deal with it.
reply
jrmg
2 hours ago
[-]
I think this is a different problem.

The page says that “browsers may split a QR code across lines” - but this isn’t split across lines.

Experimenting, if I just type "[Q R]" (very short, so not likely to line-break), the problem still occurs.

If I inspect the element, and add `white-space: nowrap;` to its style, the problem still occurs (although the text doesn’t wrap!).

reply
trillic
3 hours ago
[-]
Font rendering should scare you
reply
jhogervorst
1 hour ago
[-]
A fun benefit seems to be that you can select the QR code as text and copy it, which puts the original text in your clipboard.
reply
andonumb
1 hour ago
[-]
Great idea, but it's a shame that it only supports Basic Latin (English-only).
reply
andix
4 hours ago
[-]
Impressive, but on iOS 27 even one of the examples don't work. Seems like it has an issue with spaces. https://imgur.com/a/tZGqtjR
reply
diroussel
2 hours ago
[-]
Did you read the explanation? It says right there on the page why it happens.

Or was that text added since you viewed it?

reply
andix
1 hour ago
[-]
I probably didn’t read it. But I also had to read it twice to understand what it meant.

I’m still not sure if this is the mentioned issue or a different one.

reply
ChrisArchitect
6 hours ago
[-]
reply
zb3
2 hours ago
[-]
Unfortunately the most important thing here is missing - the whole explanation, like how did we get there, what those fonts can do and so on..
reply
karunamurti
25 minutes ago
[-]
OpenType specification is Turing complete, its hinting engine does math during rasterization and its GSUB (Glyph Substitution, a layout and shaping engine) does glyph stacking, QR code correction, etc to finalize the QR. The nice thing about it is if you copy and paste it, it goes to the original text.
reply
altairprime
1 hour ago
[-]
That’s a common downside of HN: submitters often link the GitHub repository rather than the project’s explanation. The article’s had the project link added at the top (just below the GitHub link) and it has a much clearer story.
reply
LoganDark
3 hours ago
[-]
Spaces are definitely broken in Safari.
reply