3D printed perforated QR codes

•A problem for carving a QR code on a surface such that the 3D printed QR code with homogeneous material is decodable.•A method for automatically generating the fabricable perforated QR codes.•An evaluation function to quantitatively measure the readability of the QR code.•An optimization framework for optimizing the QR code into a 3D printable model, considering the QR readability.