Printer Ink » Printer Ink Toner » MICR Toner
MICR Toner vs Regular Toner - What's The Difference?
MICR - Magnetic Ink Character Recognition - is a special type of toner that's used for printing things that need to be read by machines. The most common example of where you would use MICR toner is for printing checks.
The numbers along the bottom of checks are normally printed using MICR ink, as well as in a special font - either E-13B or CMC-7:
One of the biggest advantages of using MICR printing on checks is that it can still be read even if there is a cancellation stamp or some other mark over top of it.
Standard optical character recognition equipment would not be able to separate the numbers from the overprinting. Because MICR ink is magnetic, it can be effectively read even if there is something obscuring it visually.
If you're printing your own checks and aren't using pre-printed forms, you may be able to get a replacement cartridge for your laser printer that uses MICR toner.
Many of the major printer brands, such as HP and Lexmark, have MICR cartridges available. In some cases they are made by the manufacturer of the printer and in other cases they are made by third-parties.
If you use a third-party cartridge, be sure that they are guaranteed to be 100% compatible with your printer. Check to see what their warranty is - you want to be able to return it if you have any problems.
It's often also worth a phone call or email to their customer service people to see how quickly you get a response, and how helpful they are. It's much better to find out you're not happy with their service before you buy than it is afterwards.
It should also be noted that these cartridges are only available in black - there are no color toner cartridges with MICR ink at this point.
