Menu design ideas you can apply in the QRDERS editor

You do not need a designer for that. The menu editor already holds each choice, and the phone preview beside it shows the result as you tap. This guide walks through eight ideas you can apply in one sitting.

Start from a template that matches your trade

The Design sheet opens with ready-made looks. Several are named for the kind of business they suit: Restaurant, Café, Bar, Hotel, Spa, Beach club, Food truck and Stadium among them, beside the older looks such as Classic and Minimal.

A template sets the background, the text colour, the accent and the font together. That is the point. You are picking a finished pair of inks instead of mixing four settings by hand, and the phone preview updates as soon as you tap one.

Open the Menu tab, choose Design, then tap a template. If the preview looks close but not right, keep the template and change one thing at a time in the next few sections.

Choose one product per row or two

The layout control shows two pictures: one product per row, or two products per row. The picture is drawn in your own colours, so you can see the shape before you commit.

In the one-column layout each row carries the name and price with a small photo beside them, which leaves room for a longer description. In the two-column layout the photo sits above the name and the price, so the page reads as a wall of cards.

Two columns work well for short names and products with a clear photo. One column works better for long names, tasting notes and set menus. A section without photos stays one column in either setting, so the grid never fills with empty boxes.

Pick the accent from the row made for your template

The accent is the colour on buttons and highlights. The Design sheet offers a short row of swatches chosen for the template you are using, and the first one is usually the template's own accent.

Those swatches are not random. Each one clears a contrast threshold against the template's background, so the buttons stay visible. Start there. If you want a specific colour for a brand reason, open Customise and use the accent field, then look at the preview rather than trusting the name of the colour.

Set the text and background together

Customise is collapsed under the templates, which keeps the first screen simple. Open it when you want the menu to match a room, a sign or a logo.

Change the background first, then the text. The sheet shows a sample of the text on the chosen background, which is easier to judge than two separate colour fields. If the pair falls under the readable contrast level, a plain line appears: "Guests may find this text hard to read." It does not block you, and it is worth taking seriously on a phone in daylight.

The same section holds the font. The list includes serif and sans-serif faces, and each sample is drawn in its own typeface. A serif can suit a restaurant with a printed menu and a long history. A clean sans-serif can suit a café, a food truck or a bar. Pick one that matches the room, not the trend of the month.

Give a photo to the products guests ask about

Open a product and use the photo field to upload a picture from your phone. The photo appears on the product card in the list and at a larger size when a guest opens the item.

You can add a short video in the same place. A frame of the clip becomes the product's picture, so the list still shows an image where the video has not started. That is useful for a dish that moves, a drink being poured or a plate being finished at the position.

You do not need a photo on every product. Add them to the items guests ask about most, and let sections without photos stay in the one-column layout. There is also a switch for a slow zoom when a guest opens a product photo, off by default. Turn it on if your photos are sharp and you want the menu to feel alive. Leave it off if they are not.

Write the name and one line a guest can read in three seconds

A guest scanning at a position is usually deciding between a few things, not reading a book. Keep the product name clear and put the useful detail in the description field: what it is, how it is cooked, what comes with it.

If you are stuck, the item editor has a "Write one for me" action that drafts a description from the product name and its category. Read it before you save. It is a starting point, and the menu should still sound like your business.

Two more fields help guests find the item. Aliases are other names guests might search for, such as a local word or a spelling you do not use on the menu. Tags group products and let a guest filter the menu, and the editor suggests tags from the product's own details. Ingredients and allergens are optional, and guests see them in their own language, like the description.

Put one highlight above the products

At the top of the Menu tab there is a highlight row. A highlight is a card above the product list with a title, one short line, an optional photo and a background colour from the curated swatches. It can also link to one product on the menu.

Use it for one thing you want a guest to see before they start scrolling: a new menu, a signature product or a dish that is only here this week. One card is a sign. Several cards become a second menu, and the products below lose their place at the top.

Keep the title short enough to read at a glance and put the detail in the product it links to. The card is edited in a sheet, so the list of products stays where the owner looks first.

Make today's menu the menu guests see

The editor has three ways to keep the menu honest, and they solve different problems.

Categories group the products, and sections inside a category split a long list into readable blocks. You can move a product up or down, move it to another section, or hide a whole category from guests while you rebuild it.

When you run out of something, use the sold-out switch on the product rather than deleting it. The item stays in the menu, marked as unavailable, and you can switch it back when the next delivery arrives. A product can also be given the days it is available, so a weekend dish does not sit on the page on a Tuesday.

For a whole menu that only runs at certain hours, use the menu schedule. It takes days, a start time and an end time, and customers who scan outside the window see your other active menus. A brunch menu limited to Saturday and Sunday morning is the example the editor itself gives. A window that runs past midnight belongs to the day it starts on, so a Friday night menu is still the Friday menu at one in the morning.

Check it on a phone before you print

The preview in the editor shows the real guest menu, not a drawing of it. Work through it in the same order a guest would: the top of the page, the highlight, the categories, a product panel and the allergen list.

Use the language selector in the preview to switch to a language with long words. German and Arabic are good tests, because one makes words longer and the other reverses the page. If a product name wraps to three lines or a button label disappears, fix it before the code goes on the position.

Then scan the printed code with a real phone. The preview tells you how the menu behaves. The phone tells you whether the code and the link work. Both checks take a minute, and both are cheaper than a reprinted sign.

If you have not built the menu yet, the guide to a free QR menu covers the first pass. The PDF comparison explains why a page is easier to keep current than a file. When you are ready to choose a plan, the pricing page shows what the free plan includes.