Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!uunet!coplex!disk!corpane!herman
From: herman@corpane.uucp (Harry Herman)
Subject: Re: Computer Readable Font (for acct numbers on Bank Checks) wanted
Message-ID: <1991May13.224022.29037@corpane.uucp>
Organization: Corpane Industries Inc.
References: <1991May2.191802.2778@beaver.cs.washington.edu> <12979@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: Mon, 13 May 1991 22:40:22 GMT
Lines: 33

In <12979@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> eager@ringworld.Eng.Sun.COM (Michael J. Eager) writes:

>In article <1991May2.191802.2778@beaver.cs.washington.edu> dylan@june.cs.washington.edu (Dylan McNamee) writes:
>>
>>I am just now getting ready to order my next batch of checks for some
>>silly amount of money, and realized that I can make them myself in 
>>PostScript!  All I need is to get the account/check number in that
>>goofy computer readable font they use at the bottom of checks.  Is
>>this, or something like it around?  Anyone see any caveats?  


>The characters are MICR -- Magnetic Ink Character Recognition.  Laser printer
>ink will look the same, but won't run through the check sorters.  Your checks
>will always be in the reject basket.

>I believe that there is a Federal Reserve Bank requirement that all checks 
>which are processed through the FRB
>have MICR encoding.  This doesn't mean that your checks won't be valid, it 
>only means that they will have take a long time to get to your bank.  If you
>are collecting interest, maybe this isn't a bad idea :-).  At least until 
>your bank starts to complain.

>-- Mike Eager

What we did was to order "blank" forms that just had the MICR encodings
on them and nothing else.  We then designed our own check forms using
Postscript.  When a check run is started, the user is asked what the first
check number is, so that the computer printed part matches the MICR
encodings, and the computer records for accounts payable also have the
correct check number.

					Harry Herman
					herman@corpane
