The central region of a QR code where a brand logo may be overlaid — kept clear of finder, timing, and alignment patterns, sized so error correction can reconstruct the covered modules.
The logo safe area is the central zone of a QR symbol where a brand mark can be placed without destroying decodability. It exists because of a deliberate engineering trade: covering data modules with a logo is damage, and Reed-Solomon error correction is designed to repair damage — so a logo is simply pre-planned, aesthetically-pleasing damage, provided it stays within what the error correction level can reconstruct.
Where the safe area is
The safe area is the center of the symbol, clear of all functional patterns: the three finder patterns and their separators in the corners, the timing tracks along row and column 6, and the alignment-pattern grid distributed across the interior. In practice this means a centered square or circle whose edges stop well short of every functional marker. On small versions (1–4) the functional patterns crowd the center and the safe area is tiny — which is why logo codes should use larger versions with room to breathe. Never let the logo touch a finder pattern, cover a timing track, or overlap an alignment pattern; damage to functional patterns is not repairable by error correction in the same way data damage is.
How big the logo can be
The governing rule: the obscured modules must be comfortably within the error correction budget. At Level H (~30% recovery), a centered logo covering roughly a fifth of the symbol's side length in each dimension is the widely used rule of thumb — conservative enough to leave headroom for real-world print defects and partial occlusion on top of the deliberate logo damage. Larger logos demand either accepting fragility or increasing the symbol version so the logo represents a smaller fraction of total modules. There is no exact percentage in the standard; treat any generator that allows a logo to cover half the symbol with suspicion, regardless of its claims.
Error correction level is non-negotiable
Logo embedding requires Error Correction Level H, no exceptions. Levels L, M, and Q do not reserve enough parity to reconstruct a logo-sized hole plus the inevitable real-world damage (ink spread, glare, a thumbprint). If your generator does not let you set the error correction level, verify it defaults to H when a logo is added — if it does not, the codes it produces are fragile by construction.
Logo artwork requirements
The logo itself should be a simple, high-contrast mark: solid shapes read better than fine detail at small sizes, and the logo should sit on a light backing shape (usually white or the code's background color) so its edges do not merge with surrounding dark modules. Intricate logos with thin strokes or photographic detail become mush at logo-safe-area sizes — use a simplified lockup. Keep the logo as vector artwork in the source file so it stays sharp, and flatten it into the export only at final render.
Verification
A logo code must be verified more strictly than a plain code: it has deliberately consumed much of its damage budget before leaving the printer. Test scans at angles, in poor light, at maximum distance, and with the code slightly dirty or scuffed. If it fails any of these, shrink the logo or grow the symbol — never ship a logo code that only scans in perfect conditions.
Diagram description: QR code with the central logo safe area shaded green, functional patterns shaded red (no-go zones), and three logo sizes showing safe, marginal, and oversized relative to the error-correction budget.