zxing/zxing · error · IllegalArgumentException

Requested dimensions are too small: ${width}x${height}

Error message

Requested dimensions are too small: ${width}x${height}

What it means

Error "Requested dimensions are too small: ${width}x${height}" thrown in zxing/zxing.

Source

Thrown at core/src/main/java/com/google/zxing/qrcode/QRCodeWriter.java:63

  }

  @Override
  public BitMatrix encode(String contents,
                          BarcodeFormat format,
                          int width,
                          int height,
                          Map<EncodeHintType,?> hints) throws WriterException {

    if (contents.isEmpty()) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Found empty contents");
    }

    if (format != BarcodeFormat.QR_CODE) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Can only encode QR_CODE, but got " + format);
    }

    if (width < 0 || height < 0) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Requested dimensions are too small: " + width + 'x' +
          height);
    }

    ErrorCorrectionLevel errorCorrectionLevel = ErrorCorrectionLevel.L;
    int quietZone = QUIET_ZONE_SIZE;
    if (hints != null) {
      if (hints.containsKey(EncodeHintType.ERROR_CORRECTION)) {
        errorCorrectionLevel = ErrorCorrectionLevel.valueOf(hints.get(EncodeHintType.ERROR_CORRECTION).toString());
      }
      if (hints.containsKey(EncodeHintType.MARGIN)) {
        quietZone = Integer.parseInt(hints.get(EncodeHintType.MARGIN).toString());
      }
    }

    QRCode code = Encoder.encode(contents, errorCorrectionLevel, hints);
    return renderResult(code, width, height, quietZone);
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 19aa2d8254)

Solutions

1. Request output dimensions large enough to contain the QR symbol including quiet zone.
2. Pass 0x0 (or omit dimensions) to let the writer pick a suitable size.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at core/src/main/java/com/google/zxing/qrcode/QRCodeWriter.java:63 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of zxing/zxing@19aa2d8254 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a69f9573d716728b. Report an issue: GitHub.