Home check-printing might be exactly what you need when dealing with this type of money transfer; it is economical and there is very little chance of running out of checks. Not to mention – home-printed checks are customizable!
First, you might need to get familiarized with the steps of the process, otherwise, you may create some unnecessary trouble for yourself rather than gain from it. Let us walk you through how to print checks at home.
Shopping for the supplies
You will need to invest in necessary equipment prior to printing your own checks. These will pay off rather swiftly if your preferred transaction method is writing checks. Here is what you will need:
- Check stock paper
This paper is made specifically for checks so that they cannot be altered; it provides advanced security features. The standard paper (check) dimensions will guide you while designing.
You can find the check stock paper in most office supply stores or order it online.
- Check writing software
There is a wide variety of designing suite software, however, it is more likely you will design it properly with one of the following: Checkkeeper, Quickbooks and Relyco. - MICR font and magnetic ink
For purposes of electronic recognition of account and routing numbers, a specific font was created — MICR (Magnetic Ink Characters).
The magnetic ink, as well as this specific font, are provided by several online stores.
The designing process
Since checks have a standard layout, it is very important to comply with it. If you do not follow the standard when designing, your checks might be ruled out as improper and unusable. Here’s what a check design should contain.
- Account and routing numbers — routing number must be placed on the bottom left corner of your check. The number of your account is supposed to be placed on the right side of the routing number. Once you know the check number, make sure to place it after the account number, on its right.
These numbers must be printed in magnetic ink and MICR font.
- First name, last name, address — your personal information should be written in the upper-left corner. In case you want to apply the bank logo, make sure to put it first in the upper-right corner of the check.
- Starting numbers of the check — these numbers need to be written in the upper-right corner.
- Banks fractional number — The fractional number must be written below the check number; they should be smaller in size but readable. This number represents the bank region – it can be obtained from your bank.
- Date line – place the line that says ‘Date’ on the right side of the check number.
- Dollar sign block/box — should be placed below the fractional number – just don’t forget to add a dollar sign to the left side of the box.
- ‘PAY TO THE ORDER OF’ — must be placed on top of a line on which you will address the recipient, i.e., payee line.
- Dollar amount line — is placed right below the payee line. Make it as stretched as possible, and on the rightmost side of it write ‘DOLLARS’ – the line is used to write out the amount of money.
- Memo line — is placed right above the routing number, including the word ‘FOR’ on the left side of the line.
- Finally, add a signature line – place it on the right of the memo line with some space between the two.
The final product
After reviewing the check and making sure everything was placed and written correctly, your check is ready to print. The checks can be printed blank so you can fill them out manually, or you can insert the name and amount through a software – the choice is yours to make.
By leading you through the process of creating checks, we hopefully encouraged you to consider whether you fancy the ones your bank provides or you prefer to customize your own. There are several things you will need purchase and making the design might take a bit of your time, but eventually, you will have a fresh batch of checks at hand and will be able to make more, whenever.
We encourage you to browse through our website, to learn more about how we handle our check issuing and printing. Contact us today, to get a demo!
