MICR Compatible Printers

A wide range of of HP LaserJet and HP LaserJet compatible printers are suitable for MICR font printing using a simple parallel port adaptor or internally installed font chips that are available through Micro Support Packages. The suggested HP printer model series to obtain the quality necessary for MICR encoding are the HP 2100 series for good low-end performance, the HP 4000 series for better performance, and the HP 8000 and 8100 series for high end performance. Any comparable HP LaserJet compatible printer should work. The best type of printer will have a replaceable toner/cartridge combination. Refer to the to Toner Price page for a list of available toner products with the corresponding printer models. This page also gives the normal yield in terms of pages. Printers listed are HP, Lexmark, Infoprint, Xerox DocuPrint, QMS, and Genicom.

The required magnetic toner cartridges, although slightly more abrasive than the plain toner, yield about the same number of pages as plain toner. With proper, standard, preventive maintenance, the magnetic toner produces no more wear on the laser printer than regular toner. The primary precaution is to keep the inside of the printer clean of dust and loose toner.

The cartridges that we can supply are made from brand new OEM cartridges and contain all original components, factory seal intact, but filled with MICR toner.

You can use a laser printer with magnetic toner for regular text printing with good results. You can also swap magnetic cartridges with regular toner cartridges, but the encreased handling may cause cartridge degradation and increased risk of loose toner in the printer. For light use, a laser with a magnetic cartridge can be used for text and check printing. For heavy use for either checks or text printing, a dedicated laser printer for check printing is your best option.

Software Pricing

For UNIX or DOS, the customized programs to support the MICR printing is $1,000. Installation is simple. Original programs can be overlayed, or a separate pathway can be established for the custom programs.