QR Codes on Headstones and Memorials: A Gentle, Practical Guide

A headstone has room for a name, two dates and perhaps a line of verse. A small QR code can open the rest of the story: photos, the music they loved, words from family. More families are adding one to headstones, urns, benches and memorial plaques. This guide covers what to include, how to make it last, and the honest details to know before engraving.

What to put on a tribute page

There's no right way to remember someone, but tribute pages that families return to often include:

• A cover photo and their full name, with birth and passing dates.
• A short life story — where they grew up, their work, the people and places they loved.
• A photo gallery spanning their life, not just recent years.
• A timeline of milestones: a wedding, children, a move, a proud achievement.
• A favorite song or a video — a recorded voice can mean a great deal years later.
• A guestbook, so friends and family can leave memories and messages that others can read.

Take your time. You can publish a simple page first and add photos and stories as relatives send them.

Materials: what works on a monument

• Engraved or laser-etched granite: the most permanent option. Dark granite with a lighter etched code — or a sandblasted code filled with dark paint on light stone — works when the contrast is strong. Ask your monument maker to test-scan a sample.
• Metal plaques (stainless steel, bronze, anodized aluminum): weather-resistant and can be attached to an existing headstone, so you don't need to alter the stone itself.
• Ceramic or porcelain tiles: fired-on codes hold their color well outdoors and are a common choice alongside a memorial photo.

Whatever the material, place the code where it's easy to reach with a phone and away from where water pools or grass is trimmed.

Size, style and file

• Size: at least 1.5 in (4 cm) across. Outdoors, under changing light and on textured surfaces, 2 in (5 cm) or larger is even better.
• Style: choose the square style. Clean square modules engrave crisply and scan more reliably than dots or rounded shapes.
• File: send the SVG download to your monument maker. It's a vector file, so it engraves sharply at any size — the format engravers and plaque makers prefer.
• Contrast and margin: keep a strong difference between code and background, and leave the empty margin around the code intact.

Before engraving, print the code at its final size on paper and scan it with two phones. More detail is in our printing guide.

How long will the page stay live?

We want to be clear about this, because stone lasts a long time. On QRLivo, a page stays live while its plan is active. Plans are one-time payments for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months — there's no automatic subscription. When a plan ends, you can renew it at any time, and the page comes back at the same address. The QR code itself never changes, so the engraving never needs to be redone. Many families choose the 12-month plan and set a yearly reminder — or let a relative take over renewals.

Privacy and dignity

• Hidden from search by default: the page isn't listed in search engines, so it's reached by scanning the code or using the link you share.
• Optional password: if you'd like only family to see the page, add a password and share it privately. Keep in mind that visitors at the grave won't be able to open it without the password.
• Guestbook: lets people share memories in one respectful place.

A few gentle suggestions

Some cemeteries have rules about additions to headstones, so check with them before ordering. Consider also putting the same code on printed funeral programs or memorial cards, so people who couldn't attend can visit the page from home. And you can give the page a simple address, like qrlivo.com/their-name, that's easy to share in a message.

When you're ready, see memorial QR code examples or begin a tribute page. Designing is free, and you can take as long as you need before publishing.