##### ###### ###### ######
# # # # # # # #### # # # # ##### # # # ######
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # ###### # # # #### #### # # # # # # # #####
# # # # # # # # # # # # # ##### # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
#### # # # ###### # #### # # ###### # # # ## ######
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ____________________
█ ▄▄▄ █ ▀▀█▄█ █ ▄▄▄ █ | |""""""""""""""""| |
█ ███ █ ▀█ █ █ ███ █ |.|________________|H|
█▄▄▄▄▄█ █ ▄▀▄ █▄▄▄▄▄█ | |________________| |
▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▀ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ | |________________| |
▄▄▄█▀▄▀▀█▄▀██ ▀▀ ▀█▀ >> | |________________| |
▄▄ ▀▄▄▄▀ █▀█ ▄▀▀ ▀▀ >> | ____________ |
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █▄▄▄▀▀█ ▀█▄█▀ >> | | | _ | |
█ ▄▄▄ █ ▄▀▀▄ █▄▄▄▀▀▀█ | | | | | | |
█ ███ █ █ ▄ █ ▀▀▀█ | | | |_| | V |
█▄▄▄▄▄█ ██▀▀▀█▄█▀█▀▄ |___|___|________|___|
This is a tool for saving files as QR codes, in the manner of saving files to an old-fashioned data format such as tapes or punch cards. It allows you to encode data to QR codes in PNG files or to a number of easily printed PDF formats.
Use it for archiving data to paper, or just experiencing the absurdity of storing your files as a QR code.
The following python libraries are required. A few of these should already be loaded by default in your python install.
- qrcode
- pil
- cv2
- sys
- argparse
- pyzbar
- base64
- binaryornot
- reportlab
Included in the repository are some example files that you can decode. The following command will decode the PNG files "nevagonnagiveyouup.jpg.*.png". These files represent a small jpg image encoded into 3 QR codes.
python3 qr-diskdrive.py -l exampleCodes/nevagonnagiveyouup.jpg
The file "letUdown.jpg.QR.pdf" is the same file encoded to a PDF that can be easily printed to 3x5 index cards. You can print the cards and scan them individually in order to load the file using this command.
python3 qr-diskdrive.py -c
You can select any file of your own to encode using the command below. While there is no file limit, know that large files might encode to a large number of QR codes. Each code is limited to 2953 bytes of data. You would need 488 QR codes to encode the contents of a single 1.44 MB floppy disk!
python3 qr-diskdrive.py -s pathToFileToEncode
You can use the command line arguments below, or simply use the command:
python3 qr-diskdrive.py
which will launch a menu that will allow you to configure all the same options.
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-l LOAD, --load LOAD Load a file from a QR code or series of codes in specified image file(s) using the filename
'[filename].[0-9].png'.
-c, --camera Load a file from a QR code/series of codes from a webcam. Allows for the scanning of multiple
QR codes in sequence for larger files. Will use your primary webcam by default.
-n NAME, --name NAME Output file name, overriding default behavior (for save, default uses the name of file being
encoded, for load default uses name encoded within the QR code). Setting this will not
override the file type which is encoded in the QR code or the original file(eg. png, zip,
etc).
-s SAVE, --save SAVE Save specified file to QR code.
-d DIRECTORY, --directory DIRECTORY
Directory in which to save the output files from a save action.
-z, --zipfirst Flag to Zip the file first before encoding it into QR codes (as a compressed file needs fewer
codes). When the file is decoded, it will be automatically unzipped. NOTE: This does't relate
to the output type of 'zip'.
-o OUTPUTTYPE, --outputType OUTPUTTYPE
Output Type: Method for outputting QR codes. Options: PNG (Default), letter, half_letter,
index_card, playing_card, zip. Ignored when loading data.
-b BYTESIZE, --bytesize BYTESIZE
Maximum size of each QR code, in bytes (max and default: 2953). Use one of the following for
maximum capacity and scannability: 2953, 2303, 1732, 1273, 858, 520, 271, 106
-bd BORDER, --border BORDER
Width of the border around the generated QR code image, in the background color, measured in
blocks.
-e ERRORCORRECTION, --errorcorrection ERRORCORRECTION
Error correction level in QR codes. Can use L, M or H Default: L
-x PIXELDENSITY, --pixeldensity PIXELDENSITY
Width in pixels of a bit of saved QR code in a PNG. Default: 10
-f FILLCOLOR, --fillcolor FILLCOLOR
FILL COLOR, ie the dark color in the QR code. Use a basic color name eg. 'red' or a hex code
eg. #FFAABB. Default: black
-w WHITEBACKGROUNDCOLOR, --whitebackgroundcolor WHITEBACKGROUNDCOLOR
BACK COLOR, ie the light color in the QR code. Default: white
-a CODEALIGN, --codealign CODEALIGN
Alignm the qr code within its column, if the horizontal space available is wider than the
code. Options: left, right, center. Default: left
-mt MARGINTOP, --margintop MARGINTOP
Top Margin, when outputing to a PDF. Default: 0.5 inch on letter, 0.25 inch on all others.
-mr MARGINRIGHT, --marginright MARGINRIGHT
Right Margin, when outputing to a PDF. Default: 0.5 inch on letter, 0.25 inch on all others.
-mb MARGINBOTTOM, --marginbottom MARGINBOTTOM
Bottom Margin, when outputing to a PDF. Default: 0.5 inch on letter, 0.25 inch on all others.
-ml MARGINLEFT, --marginleft MARGINLEFT
Left Margin, when outputing to a PDF. Default: 0.5 inch on letter, 0.25 inch on all others.
-mi MARGININTERIOR, --margininterior MARGININTERIOR
Margin between columns, when outputing to a PDF with multiple columns. Default: 0.5 inch on
letter, 0.25 inch on all others.
-col COLUMNS, --columns COLUMNS
On a PDF, the number of columns of QR codes. Default: 1, except on letter, which is 2.
-r ROWS, --rows ROWS On a PDF, the number of rows of QR codes. Default: 1, except on letter and half_letter, which
is 2.
-t INCLUDETEXT, --includeText INCLUDETEXT
When outputting to a PDF, include this to include the text contained in the QR on the same
page as it. Options: left, right, above, below. NOTE: You must include a -r/--rows or
-col/columns parameter above 1 for this to work, as it will render the text in one of the
spots for a QR code. NOTE: For text that includes a lot of new lines, the tool might not work
very well because text will always take up more space than a QR code.
-y, --overridebytesizelimits
By default, when outputting to PDF, the system will try to figure out a minimum bytesize given
the size of the QR codes that will be on the page to ensure they aren't too small to be read.
This may override a bytesize you set explicitly. Include this flag to override the override,
and use the bytesize you explicitly set.
Save the file "never-gonna-give-you-up.mp3" to a pdf file on standard 8.5" x 11" paper, in the color red, in the folder "exampleFolder", and changing the name to "yellowSubmarine.mp3" so no one gets suspicious.
python3 qr-diskdrive.py -s never-gonna-give-you-up.mp3 -o letter -f red -d exampleFolder -n yellowSubmarine
Save the file "rick-astley.jpg" to a pdf file on playing-card size paper, but restricting each QR code to 271 bytes of data, and renaming the file to "theBeatles.jpg".
python3 qr-diskdrive.py -s rick-astley.jpg -o playing_card -b 271 -n theBeatles
In order to save files of any type across multiple QR codes, the data encoded by this program will include the following metadata within the QR code data.
b64: On the first QR code only, this flag will start the encoded data if we are dealing with a binary filetype that has been encoded in base64.
:z: On the first QR code only, this flag indicates that out data is zipped. The tool will unzip the data after decoding it.
::f::FILENAME.XXX::/f:: Encodes the filename on the first QR code.
::c0:: Encodes which QR code this is in order, where 0 is the index. When scanning by camera, the scanner checks to make sure you have not accidentally scanned a code out of order.
So, if a jpg file called "example.jpg" is split between 3 QR codes, the first QR code will start with the flag b64: followed by the flag ::f::example.jpg::/f::, then ::c0::, after which will be the data of the jpg file encoded in base 64. The second QR code will start with ::c1:: and the third QR code will start with ::c2::. There is no flag indicating that the file is finished, or that this is the last QR code in a series.
If your data was not encoded by this program, you should still be able to decode it. You will need to provide an output filename with the flag -n, and if scanning by camera accept each scanned image. The scanner will think that maybe you are scanning out of order.
Data is a state of matter. Like liquids, solids, and gases, data is a particular arrangement of matter that has meaning.
In the modern age, we are used to thinking of data purely in the abstract, as if it exists outside of the physical world. A file downloaded comes as if by magic at incomprehensible speed, and a full hard drive weighs no more than an empty one. If someone stops to actually think of data as something physical, we see it as the magnetic polarity of a microscopic speck of rust on a spinning platter, or the electrical state of a transistor. But data can take any form. Take for example delay line memory, where data was stored as a wave propogating through a column of mercury.
Early in the history of computers, the forms of data storage available to us were macroscopic, such as punched cards and punched tape, and so it was clear to the user that data was a physical state of matter. You can see the bits, and if you know what you are looking at you could even read it.
I wanted a way to physically handle data, something I could see, like a punch card. While there are not a lot of tools out there for decoding and encoding punch cards, QR codes can be created and read by almost any device. They are like a modern punch card, a visible, tangible form of data, ink on a page arranged to have meaning.
I envision this tool as creating modern punch cards, data made tangible. A gif encoded in a stack of playing cards. A rick roll stored in a shoebox. An mp3 stored in a binder.
Completely absurd, of course, but that's the point.
In the future I intend to:
- Allow the encoding of an entire directory, both zipped and unzipped.
- investigate the use of segno instead of the qrcode library.
- Allow the user to print directly, sending the PDF file to the operating system's printer dialog.
- Print directly to a standard receipt printer, at a reduced capacity per QR code.
- I'm going to need a receipt printer before considering this, and lots of paper.
- Allow the user to select a different webcam from their default. Useful if you have one that is not attached to the screen of your laptop.
- As it is, that can be changed from the code in the function readFromCamera(). Should be able to set this parameter
- Calculate the maximum file chunk size when outputting to PDF to prevent QR codes that are are illegible. Also allows the user to override this setting
- Allow the user to select the number of codes per letter-sized PDF page (1 or 4), which would be useful for very large codes that need to be read by low-quality cameras.
- this is done by setting columns and rows
- Allow the user to save their file as a Zip file containing the PNG files.
- Render the encoded text on a pdf alongside the QR code.
- Allow the user to select qr code styling, as defined here.
I owe the following sources for inspiration and/or the knowledge I needed to make this.
- eandriol's file2qr-qr2file. I believe I stole from them the idea to store binary files in base64, and using the
b64:prefix. Reading the code helped, but I don't believe I am using any of their code aside from using pyzbar to decode. - MattKC stored a game in a qr code here