Aug 07

Brothers Printers have long been considered as a pioneer in the printer industry. With the many awards and accolades that it has received, Brothers is certainly one of the best printer brands out in the market today. There are several advantages to choosing Brother for your printer needs like its state-of-the art printer technology, reputation for quality and reliability, and excellent support service. But aside from these advantages, there is one advantage that clearly sets Brother apart from other manufacturers: the plenitude of choices.

Brother MFC-210C Color Inkjet Multifunction Printer
One of Brother’s ever-reliable multi-purpose machines, this printer works as a printer, scanner, copier, and fax machine in one. With print speeds varying from 20ppm to 15ppm for black and color printouts and 6,000 x 1,200 dpi resolutions, the MFC-210C is the ultimate printing machine. It can hold up to 100 sheets in its loading tray and can even do borderless printing for every standard photo sizes. It can accommodate papers of varying lengths and widths with a maximum of 14 inches and 8.5 inches, respectively.

Brother MFC440CN Multifunction Color Inkjet
Another of Brother’s multipurpose machines, the MFC440CN color inkjet printer is set apart from the competition with its engineered features like an auto-document feeder and stand-alone faxing. Even with all its functions, this printer only weighs 24.2 pounds, making it one of the lightest multipurpose machines around.

Brother HL-1440 Printer
Touted as the ideal printer for home and office use, Brother HL-1440 printer provides faster printing speeds, upgraded memory, higher print resolution, and more competent user support than its predecessor HL-1240. It also incorporates cutting-edge Shockwave Print Management System that uses an easy interface for direct operation. This printer also offers connections like parallel ports and USB drives.

Brother HL-2040 Printer
Engineered specifically for home use, this printer is compatible with either Windows or Mac operating systems. Designed with space-saving in mind, this printer is compact and can be placed conveniently anywhere inside the average home office. This printer also offers a 250-sheet loading tray to reduce the need for paper refills and save time.

Brother Cartridges
The Brother TN350 toner cartridge works well with Brother Printers. Excellent choices for toner cartridges under the Brother brand are TN-460, TN-430, and DR-400, respectively. Although most Brother Toner cartridges work well with Brother’s printers, it’s best to inquire about which cartridge suit a particular printer best.

Aug 03

Not too many years ago the idea of printing your own checks was absurd and unheard of. However, today it is quite commonplace and with it come a whole host of questions regarding at home or in office check printing and the MICR toner used. Before people begin buying check paper and special toner they mistakenly assume they can use traditional ink to print their checks. And, while this is possible it really is not a good idea. The HP MICR ink is special in that it allows the banks machines to read the documents quickly and process the easily. Many people ask if they really must use this type of ink when printing checks and the answer is that is really makes good sense. The reason why is that the ink is magnetic, which allows the banks to read it. Regular ink must be processed by hand and when this occurs it is not uncommon for the bank to charge a per check fee, up to $3, for using the wrong ink. So, that is something you will definitely want to keep in mind.
Another common question is whether or not MICR toner exists for inkjet printers. The answer is no because inkjet printers use ink not toner. However, there is MICR ink that works well in inkjet printers so that is an option for you if you have an inkjet printer.
The most popular question is perhaps what MICR really stands for. The answer is magnetic ink character recognition. MICR also refers to the way a check’s numbers are printed, the ink used to print the, and even the machines that read the specially printed checks. Another funny question that people seem to ask quite regularly is how MICR is pronounced. The answer is M, I, C, R because it is an acronym and not a word. Acronyms should be spelled out, like YMCA, rather than spoken as a word. Some people have heard the MICR acronym spoken as “micker” or “my-ker” but neither of these is correct. Although, the “my-ker” would be preferred by industry leaders should it be pronounced? The easiest thing to do is just spell it out!
Those are some of the most popular questions behind MICR toner however people do have many others. If this sounds like you then do not hesitate jumping on the web and seeing what you can find. Most likely you will realize there are actually a lot of answers out there that will help educate you on MICR.

Aug 03

Did you know you could print your own checks for as little as 4 cents per check?
If you write a lot of checks, have multiple bank accounts, multiple businesses or use pre-numbered checks, I have good news for your. MICR printing software is very affordable and will save you both time and money.

Here are five reasons to seriously consider using MICR check printing software:
1. Pre-numbered checks are not cheap. You can save as much as 10 cents per check by printing your own checks.
2. If you use pre-numbered checks and make a mistake, you have to void the check number and print another check. It takes you more time and will cost you even more money… even if the printer goofed and you didn’t!
3. The MICR check printing software can be used with your current accounting program. You’ll recover your MICR software investment quickly.
4. Good MICR check printing software will print all required check information plus your signature in one-pass. No need to waste your time re-running or signing checks.
5. Most businesses already have the laser printer required to print MICR checks. By far the most popular printer for MICR checks printing is the HP LaserJet.
In addition to the laser printer, you’ll need two more items:
First, you need an MICR Toner cartridge designed specifically for your laser printer. To learn how to purchase MICR toner cartridges at huge savings, check out www.1st-in-micr-toner.com.
Second, you’ll need blank check safety paper to insure quality printing.
Of the five reasons mentioned above, the one-pass MICR printing software option is the most important. If the MICR software has to print more than one time, you run the risk of wasting time and paper. Remember, you want your MICR printing software to save you both time and money.
So, if you want to reduce your cost and time without sacrificing check quality, check out MICR check printing software today. The savings will add up quickly.

Aug 02

Using check paper to create laser checks is quite interesting. All that is required in addition is a laser printer using MICR toner and the rest is up to technology. Many people wonder what the big deal is if they have a laser printer and laser toner why they cannot print laser checks. In addition, the answer is that the MICR toner is specialized and contains iron oxide. This allows electronic bank processing equipment to “read” the bank line information and laser toner cannot provide that. The toners are not very different in makeup except for the fact that the HP MICR toner has a minimum of 50 perfect or more of iron oxide to meet the standards set forth by the ANSI.

There are many benefits to using a MICR laser check system. The first benefit that many appreciate is the MICR toner makes the laser checks more secure. Another reason is that overall cost is reduced. This occurs because there is no inventory needed nor is there a need for control over a checkbook since there is not one. Risk of theft or loss is much lower with laser checks. Not to mention laser checks are really simple to create. All that is required is entering the information that should be printed on the check and clicking the “print” button. The necessary information like logos, payee data, signatures, MICR line, and bank identification will all be printed. It is super easy to change bank account information, too, so there is no need to have a bunch of checks on file or to shred old checks. The risk of check fraud is significantly lower as well and this alone is a big reason why many people and companies switch to MICR toner.

MICR simply means Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. It allows for documents to be machine-readable and for them to be processed quickly. MICR toner is not only used to print checks but also other documents that are negotiable. These are the basics of MICR toner and the benefits it offers to users. Companies interested in saving money as well as reducing check fraud should look into MICR toner and using it in their laser printers. The expense is low and it will certainly pay off in the long run. Do a little research online about MICR to learn more about what it is, how it works, and additional benefits and you will see that it truly is your best option.

Aug 02

MICR (which can also be read as my-ker) means Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. The ANSI or American National Standards Institute has made a definition of MICR—this is the accepted machine language specification that is utilized in payment transactions (or bank checks) on paper.
Characters are printed with the use of a special MICR toner. This type of toner is made of a special chemical compound called iron oxide. Once printed, the characters are read by special high speed magnetic equipment. MICR printing requires a standard pattern or syntax which gives the bank the necessary details such as the account number, check number, routing number, and the amount of the check to be cashed. Banks have come up with such security features to counter the ever-growing number of crooks who are trying to steal money from them. Besides, more people have now found other uses for their bank checks especially people who are constantly on the go. MICR has made it possible to standardize electronic processing, reading and handling of bank checks.
MICR characters (which are printed with CMC-7 or E-13B font) need specific equipment and toners in order to become readable. MICR only becomes possible because of the magnetic toner that is used. Also, these characters have to follow a certain pattern in order to be analyzed by the reading machine. Aside from the reading machine, a check sorter is also utilized. There is no way that an ordinary bank crook would be able to decipher the MICR characters without using these equipments. To be able to print the MICR characters, a special printer has also been made for this specific function. An MICR laser printer is made just for this purpose. Although the usual desktop printer could also be employed (as long as an MICR toner has been used), still, MICR laser printer works better.
This type of printer has to work hand-in-hand with a magnetically charged ink or toner to be able to function; and since this is equipment that is used in delicate bank transactions, it has to give out consistent quality of printing and the correct character placement throughout the entire surface of the printing area. Only then would the characters become readable to the electronic fingerprint-reading machine.
Since the introduction of such innovations, bank security has been taken to a higher level. Business processes are now highly efficient and users can now print their checks and pass security checks with just one reading. Such is the magic of technological advancement when applied to banking practices.