Jim's TrueType QR Code Font
QR code font in Developer tools
Admired for rendering a QR code inline through OpenType font rules alone, though critics note large files, Basic Latin only, and spaces breaking in Safari.
Admired for rendering a QR code inline through OpenType font rules alone, though critics note large files, Basic Latin only, and spaces breaking in Safari.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Clever use of OpenType rules
“This is absolute black magic. I never realized OpenType rules were powerful enough to render something as complex as a QR matrix inline.”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: QR code renderer in a TrueType font” “the way this hacks the font to produce something completely different is amazing”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” Impressive, fun concept
“This is absolute black magic. I never realized OpenType rules were powerful enough to render something as complex as a QR matrix inline.”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: QR code renderer in a TrueType font” “the way this hacks the font to produce something completely different is amazing”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” “That's a wonderfully idea. I Like”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: QR code renderer in a TrueType font”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Doesn't render in Safari/WebKit
“Safari and WebKit can't render this font for some reason, I suppose.”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” “It doesn’t seem to like spaces that much, the code for [QR coded] is broken for me on safari ios.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” “Spaces are definitely broken in Safari.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” Breaks on spaces
“Seems like it has an issue with spaces.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” “It doesn’t seem to like spaces that much, the code for [QR coded] is broken for me on safari ios.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” “Spaces are definitely broken in Safari.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font”
What people said
11 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Works perfectly in FF for me”
“Safari and WebKit can't render this font for some reason, I suppose.”
“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.”
“it's a shame that it only supports Basic Latin (English-only)”
“the way this hacks the font to produce something completely different is amazing”
“Spaces are definitely broken in Safari.”
“Seems like it has an issue with spaces.”
“It doesn’t seem to like spaces that much, the code for [QR coded] is broken for me on safari ios.”
“the resulting QR Fonts are huge --- much larger than the javascript needed to render a QR code.”
“That's a wonderfully idea. I Like”
“This is absolute black magic. I never realized OpenType rules were powerful enough to render something as complex as a QR matrix inline.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.