Best practices for circular code anchors

Keep the following points in mind when you work with circular code anchors:

Material surface. Make sure to print the anchor on matte stock, and don't laminate it. Glossy materials can negatively affect scanning due to reflected light. Also, make sure that the anchor is flat. An anchor that is curved or distorted can affect alignment and detection.
Same anchor for authoring and printing. For best accuracy, use the same circular code anchor for authoring and operating.
Size. Make sure that your anchor is the exact size indicated in this article. Incorrect anchor size causes guide misalignment.
- Some applications and printers might change the size of the image.
- If the anchor is larger than indicated, HoloLens interprets the scale difference in distance. Therefore, the anchor is identified as closer than it really is.
- The best way to make sure that the anchor isn't resized is to print it from the PDF file.

Location. Place the anchor in a location on the physical object that's easy to access and out of the way so it doesn't interfere with work.
- Ideally, anchor placement should be central to the steps being done.
- Content placed farther away from the anchor is less accurate.
- Place the anchor where operators can quickly rescan to realign at any time.
- Ideally, the anchor shouldn't be moved after the author places it. If a permanent placement isn't possible, consider creating a mount so that the anchor can be consistently placed in the same location/orientation every time.
- Take a photo or video to document the anchor placement, and add it to the guide instructions to help increase operator confidence.

Scanning angle. Make sure you're facing the anchor straight on at the correct distance when gazing at it.
- Scanning from the same angle every time is important to maintain hologram position consistency across scans.
- Scanning from glancing angles can cause detection failure or misalignment.

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