How can I print onto a cheque.

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My sister recently had a major stroke and as a result cannot write very well.
To help her be more independent I'm trying to find out how she can print
information onto a cheque. She is currently using Windows XP with Office 2003
and I know nothing about how to use the Office software (basically because I
find it too complicated). If anyone can help me help my sister I would be
most grateful.

Thank you.
 
Although you can probably print checks with Word, this is certainly not the
easiest way to do it. Applications such as Microsoft Money and Intuit's
Quicken are set up to print checks (using special check forms created for
the purpose). To do it from Word, though, you will first need to make sure
that her printer can handle something as small as a check (assuming it's the
usual wallet size). If so, then the next step is to use a ruler to determine
where the print needs to go. Align it using Space Before, a table, or text
boxes, and keep making test prints on plain paper until you get a result
that lines up acceptably with the lines on the check.

Since your sister will still have to sign the checks, it would undoubtedly
be much easier for her to just get someone else to write the checks for her
to sign. If she has any kind of household help or health care aide, this
person could do it. Or, if she still has access to a typewriter, it would be
much easier to type the checks than to try to print them from Word.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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lefthand156 said:
My sister recently had a major stroke and as a result cannot write very well.
To help her be more independent I'm trying to find out how she can print
information onto a cheque. She is currently using Windows XP with Office 2003
and I know nothing about how to use the Office software (basically because I
find it too complicated). If anyone can help me help my sister I would be
most grateful.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
 
Maybe it's a language/translation thing or it's just me...but what do you
mean by "cheque"? Are you referring to writing a check for money? I'm sorry
I'm not understanding you...please post back with more details.

Tim
 
Before contemplating this, I suggest that you ask your bank if they are able
to provide you with blank cheques for home printing - obviously explaining
the problem with filling them out by hand. These usually come with several
on an A4 sheet connected by perforations.

If they are unable or unwilling to help, my solution would be as follows.

Firstly, you would need an inkjet printer with a reasonably straight through
paper path - rather like the range of Canon A4 Pixma IP4300 printers. Then I
would get some photo-corners that are used to hold prints in photo albums.
Attach the photo corners so that a cheque is mounted in the centre of a
fairly heavy (160 gsm) A4 sheet of paper.

Cut out a few blank pieces of cheque-size paper and mount one on the sheet
under the photo corners.

Open Word and use several borderless Text Boxes to align with the 'fields'
on the cheque in the centre of the page. Test these with the dummy blank
cheques created above, adjusting the text box positions until they are
correctly aligned.

Once it is correct, you can save this as a template for repeated use with
real cheques.

There are other ways to do this but I think that you will need to use
original cheques or your bank will reject them. (Theoretically, you should
be able to write a cheque on anything that can be presented to the bank, but
in practice this probably won't happen!)
 
Tim said:
Maybe it's a language/translation thing or it's just me...but what do you
mean by "cheque"? Are you referring to writing a check for money? I'm
sorry I'm not understanding you...please post back with more details.
Click to expand...

yes that's right - "cheque" is the correct (British) way of spelling
"check"...... ;-)
 
OK, thanks. That is what I was guessing but wanted to be sure first. I was
then going to suggest using something like Quicken (that's what I use). But
judging from Terry's response, it looks like it's much more complicated in
Britain than just purchasing blank checks from Quicken and begin printing
(or maybe I still am not understanding the real question).

Tim
 
lefthand156,
1. Does your sister's bank offer online banking and bill paying? (I am not
familiar with UK banking policies).
If they do, she might be able to set up the account, so that she can send
out her monthly bills without writing cheques at all.

I personally only write one (1) cheque a month, for rent, and have been
doing it that way for over seven (7) years now. If I could ahead, and make
an earlier payment, I would have the bank send that check too, every month.
--
Have A Good Day
Rich/rerat

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Before we had all this super software, I printed cheques, envelopes, odd
things by simply printing onto an ordinary piece of paper until I got
all the spacing right. I then cut a blank sheet to match the required
size and tested the printer to see if it would handle the new size. Once
that worked, I then saved the document I made and then simply replaced
the fields as needed. It worked every time. It just took a bit of work
and I didn't have to learn about templates, forms, and the things that
modern word processors can do.

Best of luck to you. I know you can do it.

Bernard
 
Have a look through VersionTracker.com or use Google for software intended
for that purpose. Quicken is one of the more well-known, but there are a
number of others. Although you can get Word/Excel - even Publisher - to
handle it, the dedicated programs are further designed to balance the
checkbook & most include other features.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
I believe that the UK version of Quicken is dead. And the problem I foresee
is that the codes printed along the bottom of cheques have to be a specified
font, position and ink type to work correctly with the automated
cheque-readers.

However, it looks as though if current trends continue, cheques will soon be
obsolete. The use of cheques has fallen steeply and some places will no
longer accept them at all.

Terry
 
Terry Farrell said:
I believe that the UK version of Quicken is dead. And the problem I foresee
is that the codes printed along the bottom of cheques have to be a
specified font, position and ink type to work correctly with the automated
cheque-readers.
Click to expand...

that's correct - normally Banks supply pre-printed cheque forms and the
software (usually some sort of accounting package) just prints the relevent
details on the cheque form.
 
Thanks Gordon for the confirmation: I thought that probably banks should be
able to help out with this.

Terry
 
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