FreeCheck

DOWNLOAD - Latest is v0.30, October 17, 2002
CHANGELOG
README
TODO
MAILING LIST

Thanks to James Klicman for the 0.30 release!

WARNING Please be sure that FreeCheck produces a MICR line exactly like the one on your bank checks. If it doesn't, please let me know.

FreeCheck is a free check printing utility. You can use it to print your own checks on blank check stock, available at office supply stores and various places around the web. To do this right, you also need magnetic / MICR toner to print the MICR line at the bottom of the check. Using normal toner may result in hand-processing by the bank, which may cost you money. (Other people have reported that normal toner works just fine.)

I only have information on US bank drafts, and a little on Canadian bank drafts. FreeCheck does not yet support any other bank draft format (for example, those used in the UK). If you have any documentation on these formats, I will try to add support.

FreeCheck has not been thoroughly tested. There are a lot of subtleties that go into printing checks, and professional testing costs too much. If you submit malformed checks to your bank or to a retailer, you may be charged a fee. If you decide to use FreeCheck, please examine the printed checks closely, and don't use your first try to pay your rent. :) That said, I have sent a handful of checks through the bank with no problems.

FreeCheck is Perl based, so it should work fine on any platform to which Perl has been ported. FreeCheck generates a PostScript file which can be saved to disk, printed, or converted to PDF using GhostScript. By default, the PostScript goes to STDOUT, so it should work well in a scripted environment.

There's a fair amount of work to do yet, including the ability to fill out the checks with payee, amount, etc. A GUI to wrap around this would be nice, too.

To use FreeCheck, you will need a Type 1 MICR font. Luckily for you, I have one available... see my GnuMICR page.

Words of caution - this application is in development. If your bank complains, charges you, or cancels your account for printing malformed checks, that's not my problem. I have every reason to believe that the output is fine, and I have sent a handful of checks through my bank without incident. However, I can't guarantee your results. You have been warned. :-)

Mailing List

There is a mailing list available for FreeCheck (and GnuMICR).