CardDeck Help Center: setup guides and troubleshooting

Create an account, pick a template, add your details and publish. Your first card is free and needs no credit card.

1. Sign up with your email.
2. Choose a template for a digital business card.
3. Add your details: photo, name, title, company, phone, email and one or two links.
4. Publish. You get a permanent link (carddeck.co/yourname) and a QR code.
5. Share by showing the QR code on your phone, pasting the link into messages, or adding it to your email signature.

For the full picture of create, share, capture and manage, read how CardDeck works.

Open the card from your dashboard to edit it; changes go live as soon as you save, at the same link and QR code.

• Edit: change any field, photo, link or button. People who open your card afterwards see the update.
• Change design: switch template or adjust colors and fonts. The link and QR code stay the same.
• Add another card: create a new card for a second role or brand. Free includes 1 card, Pro 5.
• Hide fields: turn off any field you don't want public.
• Deactivate or delete: a deactivated card stops showing your details. Before deleting, export any contacts the card captured.

If your card shows a CardDeck badge, that's the Free plan; Pro and above remove it.

Every card has one permanent link, so any channel that carries a link can share it. Set up the channels you use most once, and they keep showing your latest details.

• Email signature: build a signature with your photo, title and a "View card" link, then copy the HTML and paste it into Gmail or Outlook signature settings. The email signature generator does this for you.
• Social bios: paste your card link into the website or bio field on LinkedIn, Instagram or X.
• Messages: send the link in a text or WhatsApp message; the recipient taps once to view and once more to save.
• NFC: write your card link to an NFC card, tag or sticker with any NFC writing app. Compatible phones open your card with a tap. NFC support varies by phone, so keep the QR code visible too.

Analytics show which of these channels people use to open your card, so you can see what's working.

Use a dynamic QR code for anything printed, and download SVG for print. Every card has its own QR code, and you can create separate codes for links, WiFi, text and contacts.

• Static vs dynamic: static codes store the data in the pattern and can't be changed; dynamic codes point to a short link you can re-target and track. Static codes are unlimited on every plan; dynamic codes are 2 on Free, 50 on Pro, 200 on Team and unlimited on Business.
• Formats: SVG scales without blurring and is best for print; PNG is fine for screens and documents.
• Size: at least 2 × 2 cm for a business card held in the hand. As a rule of thumb, make the code about one-tenth of the scanning distance — roughly 10 cm for a poster read from a metre away.
• Colors and logo: keep dark modules on a light background with strong contrast. A small center logo is fine; don't cover more of the code than the designer allows.
• Barcodes: use Code 128 for IDs, tickets and asset tags, and EAN-13 for retail products with a GS1-assigned number.

Prepare a clean spreadsheet, upload it to the batch generator, map columns, fix flagged rows and export. Most failed imports come from the spreadsheet, not the upload.

Preparing the file

• One row per person or item; headers in the first row.
• Save as CSV (UTF-8) to keep accents and non-Latin names, or upload XLSX.
• Remove merged cells, blank rows and formulas that return errors.
• Give each row a unique ID. CardDeck uses it to update existing cards when you re-import.
• For photos, upload a ZIP with each file named after the ID (for example NWL-0428.jpg).

Fixing flagged rows

Rows with a missing photo, a duplicate ID or an empty required field are flagged before anything is issued. Fix them in the sheet and re-upload, or edit them in the review screen.

Limits

Rows per job are 25 on Free, 500 on Pro, 2,000 on Team and 25,000 on Business. Split a larger list into several jobs. The batch generator page covers exports and print layouts.

Contacts arrive when someone opens your card and shares their details back through the exchange form. Each contact is saved with its source — the card, badge, QR code or email signature that brought them in.

• Organize: tag contacts and add notes so follow-up has context.
• Export: download contacts as CSV or vCard at any time. Team and Business plans add CRM export.
• Limits: 50 contacts on Free, 1,000 on Pro, 5,000 on Team and unlimited on Business.
• Privacy: the form records consent with a timestamp. If someone asks you to remove their details, delete the contact from your list.

More on tags, notes and exports is on the contact management page.

Admins set up the workspace, build locked templates, add members and handle offboarding from one dashboard.

1. Create the template. Add your logo, colors and fonts, then lock the design and choose which fields members can edit.
2. Add members. Invite people by email, or import them from a spreadsheet to create their cards in one batch.
3. Assign card types. Give each member a business card, an employee ID or both.
4. Review usage. Team analytics show which cards are opened and how.
5. Offboard. Deactivate a departing member's card and ID. The ID's verification page shows inactive immediately, and you can reassign shared cards.

Team requires at least 3 seats. Multiple brands, SSO and a custom domain are on Business.

Manage your plan, currency and billing period from billing settings. Upgrades take effect immediately and are prorated; downgrades apply at the end of your billing period, and your cards stay online in the meantime.

• Currency: prices are available in USD and INR.
• Yearly vs monthly: yearly saves 25% on Pro and Business and about 17% on Team.
• Downgrading: static codes and barcodes keep working. If you go over the new dynamic QR limit, CardDeck shows which codes are affected so you can choose which to keep active.
• Taxes: listed prices exclude applicable taxes.

Plan details are on the pricing page; answers to common billing questions are in the CardDeck FAQ.

Most QR codes that won't scan are too small, too low in contrast, missing their margin, or pointing to the wrong place. Work through this list in order.

1. Size. Is the printed code at least 2 × 2 cm? For signs and posters, scale it to roughly one-tenth of the scanning distance.
2. Contrast. Dark modules on a light background scan best. Pale colors, gradients and light-on-dark (inverted) codes fail on some phones.
3. Quiet zone. Leave a clear margin around the code — four modules wide, per ISO/IEC 18004. Text or graphics touching the code can stop it reading.
4. Print quality. Blurry edges come from enlarging a small PNG. Re-export as SVG and print again.
5. Surface. Glossy lamination, curved surfaces and glare under lights can stop a scan. Try matte finishes and flat placement.
6. Too much data. A static code holding a long URL or a full vCard gets dense and hard to read at small sizes. Use a dynamic code, which holds only a short link.
7. Destination. If the code scans but opens the wrong page or an error, check the destination in your dashboard. For dynamic codes, confirm the code is still active and within your plan's limit.
8. Damage. Scratches across the corner squares (the finder patterns) cause more failures than damage elsewhere.

Always test-scan with at least one iPhone and one Android phone before you print a full run.

If your question isn't answered here, check the frequently asked questions, then contact the CardDeck team with your account email, the card or code involved, and a screenshot if something looks wrong. Business plans include priority support. For background reading on cards and codes, browse the CardDeck blog.