MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition)
strips are used by banking industry to automate check
processing. It was invented around 1950s. The characters
can be recognized in two ways: magnetic recognition and
optical recognition. Through the special character
design, each character generates unique signal to the
MICR reader, making the reading very fast and accurate.
To satisfy printing requirements, magnetic ink has to be
employed to print checks. You can find a whole bunch of
MICR toner vendors through
this link.
Morovia MICR font follows the most recent ANSI standard X9.27-2000 when printed at point size 12. The character set is generally called "E-13B". The standard is used by many countries, including Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and Australia.
To print checks that can be recognized by check readers, the characters must have precise measurements. Not all MICR fonts in the market, especially these marketed as shareware, meet the printing requirements of the standard.
Character Mapping
The MICR E13B contains a character set of 14 characters. The mapping is illustrated in the table below:
| Character | Mapping | Character | Mapping | Character | Mapping |
| One (1) | 1 | Six (6) | 6 | Transit Symbol | [, ], A |
| Two (2) | 2 | Seven (7) | 7 | Amount Symbol | B, #, $ |
| Three (3) | 3 | Eight (8) | 8 | On-Us Symbol | C, @ |
| Four (4) | 4 | Nine (9) | 9 | Dash Symbol | D, - |
| Five (5) | 5 | Zero (0) | 0 |
Transit Symbol: The data between transit symbols indicates the institution which the check is drawn from. It is also called Routing Number in US.
Amount Symbol: The data between amount symbols represents the amount. This portion does not usually appear in the check; it is used internally in the bank.
On-Us Symbol: This character indicates the following data represents the account number.
Dash: This character separates the account number.
For example, the MICR strip in a check numbered 1172, from Account 0711-252187 at bank with routing number 082012714 will look like this:
The above image was produced with MRV MICR font at point size 12. The font string is (A082012714A1172 C0711-252187C).
Morovia MICR Font Package
Morovia MICR Font package consists of 10 true type fonts. We also provide Postscript and PCL fonts for free to these who own a perpetual license to our MICR font. Enclosed please find Morovia MICR Calibration Wizard, which is to help user find the best font for his/her printer and check stock.
In most cases, MRV MICR font produces the most accurate result. However, some factors do impact the physical measurement. For example, paper tends to expand when heats up, and contract when it dries. Humidity and ink quality also affects the printout. To achieve the most accurate result we provide 10 true type fonts. Those fonts suffixed by W (meaning: wider) have slighter wide character spacing. Those suffixed by N (meaning: Narrower) have slighter narrower character spacing. For printers that produce slightly lighter results, choose those suffixed by B (bolder). For printers that produce slightly darker results, choose the one suffixed by L (lighter).
| MICR FONT FILES | |
| Font Name | Usage |
| MRV MICR | the normal MICR font that produces the correct MICR strip on most laser printers and check stocks |
| MRV MICRW | wider version |
| MRV MICRN | narrower version |
| MRV MICRB | bold version |
| MRV MICRBW | bolder, wider version |
| MRV MICRL | lighter version |
| MRV MICRLW | lighter, narrower version |
| MRV MICRLN | lighter, narrower version |
| MICR | Same as MRV MICR to be used in some accounting package such as Peachtree. |