QRCode SVG (PHP)

PHP library to generate QR Codes as compact, stylable SVGs. It extends the MIT-licensed QRCode implementation by Kazuhiko Arase and adds an SVG renderer with multiple visual variants (normal, rounded, fullyrounded, dotted) and color support including alpha transparency.

Features

• Normal, rounded, fullyrounded and dotted QR styles
• Foreground/background colors with alpha (#rrggbbaa, rgba(), etc.)
• Clean, size-optimized/compact SVG output (no rasterization)
• High error correction by default (Level H)
• Simple API and demo page

Quick demo

Start a local PHP server and open the test page:

php -S localhost:8000

Then visit http://localhost:8000/test/test_varianten.php to see the variants for the text "Test von QRCode SVG" in different colors.

Installation

Using composer and run in your project folder:

    composer require github.com/janmz/qrcodesvg:dev-main

This will include the dependency qrcode-generator/qrcode.php which is updated via a githup workflow to avoid distributing the complete package.

In the code just use:

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

If you use this repository directly, the provided composer.json registers a classmap for the two PHP files.

Usage

# class loaded via autoloader!

$qr = new QRCodeSVG();
$qr->setErrorCorrectLevel(QR_ERROR_CORRECT_LEVEL_H);
$qr->addData('Hello SVG');
$qr->setTypeNumber(4); // or compute automatically
$qr->make();

$svg = $qr->getSVG(
    256,
    '#000000ff',
    '#ffffff00',
    'QR Code for Hello SVG',
    'rounded'
);

echo $svg;

See test_varianten.php for an auto-sizing example that computes the minimal type number for the input length.

Variants

• normal: classic square modules and rectangles
• rounded: rounded connections and corners
• fullyrounded: like rounded, but concave inner corners are rounded too
• dotted: all modules as dots (no rectangles)

Pass one of the above as the variation argument to getSVG().

Colors

Foreground ($fg) and background ($bg) accept:

• #rgb, #rrggbb, #rrggbbaa
• rgb(r,g,b)
• rgba(r,g,b,a)

The renderer normalizes colors and keeps them short where possible. Alpha is supported; a fully transparent background is the default.

API

QRCodeSVG::getSVG(int $width, string $fg="#000000FF", string $bg="#ffffff00", string $alt_text="", string $variation="normal"): string

• width: target width/height of the SVG canvas
• fg: foreground color
• bg: background color
• alt_text: used as aria-label
• variation: normal, rounded, fullyrounded, or dotted

Other methods come from the base QRCode class: addData, setTypeNumber, setErrorCorrectLevel, make, etc.

Development

• Demo page: test_varianten.php
• Core class: qrcodesvg.php (SVG renderer)
• Base class: qrcode.php is only importet and should not be changed. To avoid copying the complete repository of the base class, which also includes implementations for other languages/environments a trick is used. The current file is updated via a github workflow and included into a special folder in this repository. If You want to develop in a fork, make shure also to use the github workflow or build a small script for Your own.

Run a local server with php -S localhost:8000 and open the demo page https://localhost/test/test_varianten.php.

Testing

The project includes comprehensive regression tests to ensure visual consistency across different PHP versions and environments.

Running Tests

cd test
php regression_test.php

Test Coverage

• Visual regression tests with PNG comparison (60 test cases)
• Multiple QR code variants (normal, rounded, fullyrounded, dotted)
• Color combinations with transparency
• Contour-based path rendering for compact SVG output
• Cross-platform SVG to PNG conversion
• Automatic Path/Elemente validation during baseline generation and current testing

Automated Testing

Tests run automatically on:

• Every push to main or develop branches
• Pull requests against main
• Release creation (as prerequisite)

See test/README.md for detailed testing documentation.

Roadmap

Open features list:

• merging the qrcode with a logo in the midde (can be done via HTML/CSS right now)
• gradients in the background
• gradients in the boxes
• gradients over the foreground

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Credits

• Original QR code generator: Kazuhiko Arase (https://github.com/kazuhikoarase/qrcode-generator)

Support / Donate

If this project is useful to you, please consider a small donation to support children in need via CFI-Kinderhilfe:

Use the following link: https://cfi-kinderhilfe.de/jetzt-spenden/?q=SVGVAYA

Thank you!