Blender addon for generating QR code meshes, with no need for an external program or web service.

By Jacob Welsh

License: MIT/X11

Minimum required Blender version: 2.65

Home page: http://www.eemta.org/code/qrcode.html

Blender Addons Catalog page: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Add_Mesh/Local_QR_Code_Generator

General information on addons: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Extensions/Python/Add-Ons

The addon is implemented in pure Python and consists of a single file plus dependencies. So the only build step is the optional creation of a zip file that bundles everything for easy installation into Blender.

The primary dependency is the python-qrcode library. Version 4.0.4 or newer is strongly recommended for correctness; 5.0.1 is recommended for speed. It is linked in deps/python-qrcode as a git submodule. This library requires six; since that's a single file and doesn't use git, it's reproduced in full in deps/six.py. Note that python-qrcode also normally requires pillow, but that's not needed here as the addon doesn't use that part of the code.

Once the dependencies are in place in deps, update the version comments in bundle_hdr.py if necessary, then run ./bundle.sh which will produce add_mesh_local_qrcode.zip.

In Blender, select File > User Preferences, Addons tab, Install from File button. Navigate to add_mesh_local_qrcode.zip and install it. It should now be listed as "Add Mesh: Local QR Code" under the "Add Mesh" category. Click the checkbox on the right to enable it, and "Save User Settings" if you want it enabled every time you run Blender.

If your Blender is using a system-wide Python installation (e.g. from a Linux distribution), you can install the dependencies in a standard Python 3 location, then install only add_mesh_local_qrcode.py in your Blender addons directory as above.

Add a new code through Add > Mesh > QR Code. It will be created in the XY plane, oriented for scanning from the top. Once added, you can control the following from the operator properties box in the tool shelf (the mesh will update immediately):

• Data: the text to encode; more compact encodings such as number or alphanumeric will be detected automatically
• Invert: whether to create blocks for the background or foreground
• Fixed size: whether to scale the code to a fixed size of 2x2, or build it from 1x1 blocks
• Join blocks: whether to join vertices of adjacent blocks together; you might not want this for stylizations like adding space between each block
• Border size, in blocks
• Error correction: higher levels are more resistant to damage, but may be more difficult to scan due to the greater amount of data

Be sure to use a dark-colored foreground on a light background for your final product to be able to scan the code.

Email me: jwelsh@welshcomputing.com

Report a bug: https://github.com/welshjf/blender-local-qrcode/issues

If you find this addon helpful, please consider donating bitcoin: 1EAr1XZzd9a1RqSMtKDGDZs214ptT9WHtK

Thanks for downloading, and have a lot of fun!