Aesthetic QR Code With Basic Module Partitioning and Grayscale Transformation Method

As a type of two-dimensional barcode widely used in various scenarios, a QR code is an image composed of square black and white modules arranged in a specific way to record information. This paper proposes a method for beautifying QR codes by embedding trademarks or personal avatars without compromising the error correction ability of the QR code, based on the division of basic modules and gray-scale transformation. The method mainly consists of three steps: first, combining XOR of binary numbers with Gaussian-Jordan elimination to adjust the brightness/darkness order of the QR code modules, making each module match the corresponding module of the embedded image, resulting in a binary QR code image; second, changing the color and size of the bright and dark modules of the QR code to achieve simplicity and to match the theme color of the embedded image; third, a rendering algorithm is designed to handle the crucial pixels of binary QR codes in order to embed images within the QR codes. This approach enhances the visual quality of the QR codes while preserving their error correction capabilities. Experimental results show that the proposed method can resist some common attacks on QR codes and has a high success rate in scanning and decoding after beautification.