Infomaniak is a Swiss company that has stood out for quite a few years now by offering free tools (in addition to its paid services). These tools have the great advantage of being hosted not in the United States like its competitors… but in Switzerland! And so among these free services, I could mention you Swiss Transfer for file sharing, but, and this is the subject of this article, Chk a service for creating short links and QR codes very easily and for free!
Create short links and QR codes with Chk
When you share URLs, you may need to shorten them either because the URL is really long or because you want to hide the content (to make a surprise?). This is what shortlink tools are usually for.
Chk simply allows you to do this and in addition, because it is not much more complicated, it adds the creation of a QR code at the same time. The QR code is always a very practical tool to quickly share a link that will be scanned by the smartphone of the people who need it.
So what I particularly like about the Informaniak link shortener is that it's hard to make it simpler to use.
Chk, whose servers and therefore your links are hosted in Switzerland, allows you to create up to 500 links and QR codes per month. QR codes generated can be retrieved in PNG and SVG format.
You will not need a credit card to use this free service, but you will need to create a free account on Infomaniak.
- Meeting on chk and connect with your Infomaniak account
- Paste your URL into the field provided and click Generate
- And that's all !
Chk will then show you a new page, with your short link in the format "chk.me/xxxxxxx" that you can copy using the small green button. Next to it, your QR code and a button to download it in SVG or PNG.
For aesthetes, it is also possible to customize your QR code. You can change its color and adjust its validity period (from 7 days to an infinite duration). The cherry on the cake is that you can even upload your logo which will then be displayed in the center of the QR code! Classy!
Another habit that I like with Infomaniak is that in the background of their tools and this is also the case with Chk, they always reward us beautiful pictures mountain or nature!
In short, Chk is a very handy tool for anyone who wants to create short links or QR Codes!
Did you know: the origin of the QR Code
The QR Code was created in Japan in 1994 by a company called Denso Wave. This small black and white square was originally designed to track car parts in Toyota factories. Indeed, the QR Code can store much more information than a classic barcode, and it has become very popular well beyond the assembly lines. Imagine: a simple scan with your smartphone, and hey presto, you have access to a whole world of information, websites, or even contactless restaurant menus. Practical, right?
