MICR-OCR Fonts For Check Printing

Does anyone know of a royalty-free, open term license MICR-OCR font,
or an all together free MICR-OCR True Type font for laser printing
checks/cheques that's reasonably priced?

I found some online for like $300 but the idea of paying that much for
a font seems a little irresponsible when I could be investing that
cash into another 3rd party template or two that add more value my
product.

Adobe doesn't do OEM licensing for their fonts anymore but I'm hoping
there's some free alternatives that do the job (rather than a "free"
undistributable demo).

I don't even need all the letters, just the numbers and an odd
character or two to account-route stripe the bottom of the checks I'm
printing from my CW report : )

Thanks!

James

Hi James,

I gotta question for you...  What laser printers will print close enough to
the bottom of the page to be able to print the MICR-OCR Fonts on checks
where they are supposed to be???

--
Best Regards,
Earl R Coker
ksasales AT machlink DOT com
kwiksys AT kwiksystems DOT net
www.kwiksystems.net
www.kwiksystems.com
www.kwiksystems.com/clarion.htm (BigTamer(tm) Templates)


"Arnett, James" <james@jamesarnett.com> wrote in message
news:e356ca03.0402231548.1696c436@posting.google.com...
> Does anyone know of a royalty-free, open term license MICR-OCR font,
> or an all together free MICR-OCR True Type font for laser printing
> checks/cheques that's reasonably priced?
>
> I found some online for like $300 but the idea of paying that much for
> a font seems a little irresponsible when I could be investing that
> cash into another 3rd party template or two that add more value my
> product.
>
> Adobe doesn't do OEM licensing for their fonts anymore but I'm hoping
> there's some free alternatives that do the job (rather than a "free"
> undistributable demo).
>
> I don't even need all the letters, just the numbers and an odd
> character or two to account-route stripe the bottom of the checks I'm
> printing from my CW report : )
>
> Thanks!
>
> James

"Earl R Coker" <ksasales AT machlink DOT com> wrote in message
news:103lgbdp0amaba5@corp.supernews.com...
> Hi James,
>
> I gotta question for you...  What laser printers will print close enough
> to
> the bottom of the page to be able to print the MICR-OCR Fonts on checks
> where they are supposed to be???
>

Almost every HP LaserJet will

And we've cut about  4 million checks.



Rob




> --
> Best Regards,
> Earl R Coker
> ksasales AT machlink DOT com
> kwiksys AT kwiksystems DOT net
> www.kwiksystems.net
> www.kwiksystems.com
> www.kwiksystems.com/clarion.htm (BigTamer(tm) Templates)
>
>
> "Arnett, James" <james@jamesarnett.com> wrote in message
> news:e356ca03.0402231548.1696c436@posting.google.com... 
>
>

I'm using these blank check forms from Office Depot that prints 3
checks on one 8x11.5 inch page.

I don't think the printed edge gets anywhere near the paper edge. I'm
basically doing the same thing as those check printing programs they
sell at Office Depot, using the same VersaCheck paper, except as part
of a much larger app.

I'm going to print a test sheet tomorrow and run it past my bank to
see if it processes, once I get the accompanying statements layed out
in CW report so they fit into a window envelope to mail the checks
with.

"Earl R Coker" <ksasales AT machlink DOT com> wrote in message news:<103lgbdp0amaba5@corp.s
upernews.com>...
> Hi James,
>
> I gotta question for you...  What laser printers will print close enough t
o
> the bottom of the page to be able to print the MICR-OCR Fonts on checks
> where they are supposed to be???

My posts don't seem to be displaying : (

I'm testing on an HP4L laser printer but it's not a paper edge issue
because I'm using three-up (perforated) blank check stock (8.5x11
inches) available at Office Depot.

By the time I'm done testing at the bank to make sure it goes through,
I'll be good at machine generating checks. So if you need to implement
this feature, I'll be able to let you know what has to go where to
process correctly.

So far, it's no more difficult than formatting any other report in CW
with the exception of getting the three occurances of the detail band
to evenly divide the 11 inch height of the paper so the perforations
line up properly with the routing code at the bottom.

There's also a little doo-dad called the Federal Reserve Distribution
Bank code that looks like a fraction you need to remember to include
but that's just more report formatting. Getting the routing code at
the bottom edge to space at the right font size is the only critical
part.

I still need to get a look at how some foreign checks are arranged,
just in case I have any users trying to link to their accounts in
other countries.

After I get back from my local merchant bank, I'll know if there are
any other caveats to this.

"Earl R Coker" <ksasales AT machlink DOT com> wrote in message news:<103lgbdp0amaba5@corp.s
upernews.com>...
> Hi James,
>
> I gotta question for you...  What laser printers will print close enough t
o
> the bottom of the page to be able to print the MICR-OCR Fonts on checks
> where they are supposed to be???
>
> --
> Best Regards,
> Earl R Coker
> ksasales AT machlink DOT com
> kwiksys AT kwiksystems DOT net
> www.kwiksystems.net
> www.kwiksystems.com
> www.kwiksystems.com/clarion.htm (BigTamer(tm) Templates)
>

Hi Rob,

The MICR spec calls out a 0.1875 inch gap between the paper bottom
edge and the bottom edge of the MICR-OCR routing number. But using an
HP4L laser printer, 0.2775 inches is as low as I can get the MICR-OCR
routing number to print (all 3 checks on an 8.5x11 inch tricheck
form)). Any increment lower and it doesn't print at all.

Does your check print 3 up or just one per sheet? How much tolerance
do you experience in your check printing? Is it dead on to the spec or
is there a variance?

I'm wondering how much play I have yet still get the checks to
reliably process optically.

Thanks!

James


"rob kas" <rob@paychoice.com.noSPAM> wrote in message news:<103nh3f30cra748@corp.supernews.
com>...
>
>  Almost every HP LaserJet will
>
>    And we've cut about  4 million checks.
>
>
>
>                        Rob

Hi James,

I could not access this newsgroup for several days.  My DSL connection was
screwed up.  Just now got it back working again.

I just print one check per page and the MICR printing needs to be right near
the bottom.  As I remember I have a "template" to lay over the check to tell
whether it passes for positioning or not.  I guess I could use "short" check
stock to "trick" the printer into printing closer to the bottom of the page.

I took my "test" printed checks (VersaCheck Item# MVC/1000G Form !1000 Bank
Checks) to my bank and they said they would not honor them unless they were
"their" printed checks.  That was a couple of years ago and when they said
that and I just dropped the subject.  My Wife, the Financial Manager <g>,
said not to the idea too.

But I am needing to do it in my apps now so gotta figure it out.  I need to
change over to using plain blank check stock now tho instead of the
partially printed VersaCheck ones.

--
Best Regards,
Earl R Coker
ksasales AT machlink DOT com
kwiksys AT kwiksystems DOT net
www.kwiksystems.net
www.kwiksystems.com
www.kwiksystems.com/clarion.htm (BigTamer(tm) Templates)


"Arnett, James" <james@jamesarnett.com> wrote in message
news:e356ca03.0402252215.2c993196@posting.google.com...
> Hi Rob,
>
> The MICR spec calls out a 0.1875 inch gap between the paper bottom
> edge and the bottom edge of the MICR-OCR routing number. But using an
> HP4L laser printer, 0.2775 inches is as low as I can get the MICR-OCR
> routing number to print (all 3 checks on an 8.5x11 inch tricheck
> form)). Any increment lower and it doesn't print at all.
>
> Does your check print 3 up or just one per sheet? How much tolerance
> do you experience in your check printing? Is it dead on to the spec or
> is there a variance?
>
> I'm wondering how much play I have yet still get the checks to
> reliably process optically.
>
> Thanks!
>
> James
>
>
> "rob kas" <rob@paychoice.com.noSPAM> wrote in message
news:<103nh3f30cra748@corp.supernews.com>... 

Hi Earl,

You know, I'm really tempted to buy one of those check printing
programs at Office Depot just to see how the heck they're doing it
(and what they're fudging to pass OCR through "any" bank).

I brought my printed checks to my merchant bank and they were willing
and able to cash them manually but wouldn't know if they OCR scanned
properly until their central bank actually processed and returned the
checks with my monthly statement.

I'm using those 3 per page [blank] check stock and they print
beautifully but like I mentioned earlier, my HP4L laser test printer
can only print down to 0.2775 inches of the lowest check edge. The
spec says it has to be 0.1875 inch but if other programs are hitting
the same limitation in "everyone" elses HP4L, then that tells me one
of two things are being fudged from the MICR spec.

1) The MICR spec is not an absolute dimension but a "no-lesser-than"
dimension, within some unknown tolerance, or;

2) The printer is somehow being instructed to override its lower print
edge.

Since there are many makes and models of laser printers, then it's not
likely that every possible laser printer has been provided with
instructions. I think it's far more likely that there's some
unpublished tolerance good for printing above the spec's dimension.

I'll let you know what the bank says after OCRing the top, middle and
bottom checks I sent for processing. If they fail, I'll get them back
with a report.

Most banks have the MICR specification sheet, my bank gave me the form
on request. There's not much that's critical - except that bottom MICR
account routing number, that has to be spaced properly, in addition to
its height placement.

Rob says he's processing loads of these checks, so I'm very optimistic
that it can be done. If someone else is doing it successfully, that
means there's a way. Just need to figure out a way around that one
caveat and it's a done deal.

It has to work, my checks look way better than the ones the bank
prints : )