Before you print on your real checks, use the sample checks from your Quicken package to make a test print. Then, adjust the text alignment as necessary.
If the printing on the sample check doesn't line up with the fields on the check, adjust where the information appears and print sample checks until the alignment is correct.
You can also make a test print on a blank piece of paper. If you use this method, place the test print on top of a real check and hold it up to the light to see if the text is correctly aligned.
Set my printer's coarse Alignment
- Select Coarse. Quicken displays a message about not adjusting your printer. Coarse alignment moves the checks to the correct starting position in your printer. Quicken doesn't remember or change any settings from the coarse alignment process.
- Click OK to print a sample check.
- Enter the pointer line position.
- When the check is positioned correctly, Quicken displays the Please Note Position window.
Tips for using the coarse alignment feature
- If you can't see the pointer line on the sample check, do not roll the check forward. If you can't see the pointer line, open the dust cover and look inside to read the pointer line position.
- Check to see if your printer has a skip-over-perforation feature. If the pointer line position is the same on each check sample, you may have skip-over-perforation enabled. If your printer has this feature enabled, turn it off. Check your printer manual for details.
Once your checks have printed successfully, note the check position so that you can reload your checks to this position in the future. Do this even if your printer has an autoload or park feature.
Set my printer's fine Alignment
- Click Full Page of Checks.
- Click Print Sample. If you've run out of the sample checks that came with Quicken, you can print sample checks on blank paper. After printing a sample, place it on top of the real check and hold them both up to the light to see if the text printed correctly.
- Examine the dollar amount that Quicken printed on the check. If it isn't within the alignment grid, make sure your paper is feeding correctly through your printer.
- Enter adjustments in the Vertical and Horizontal fields, using the grid to estimate the distances.
- Click Print Sample again to test whether you've corrected the alignment problem.
- If you're satisfied with the alignment, click OK. If not, repeat Steps 4 and 5.
- Ensure that you are printing Quicken-compatible checks.
- Check your printer setup.
- Check your check alignment.
If you've set up your printer correctly, Quicken knows which alignment feature to try first. Generally, coarse alignment is used first on continuous-feed printers and for large adjustments of one line feed or more. Fine alignment is used for page-oriented printers and small adjustments of less than one line feed.
Tips for using the fine alignment feature
- If you have a page-oriented printer, print sample checks on plain paper. Print a sample and then place it on top of a real check. Hold both up to the light to see if the text printed correctly. Printing samples on blank paper saves checks.
- Use the alignment grid on the test printout to measure how far to move the text. One square on the grid corresponds to 10 units or one character. If you're not sure whether to increase or decrease the numbers, use the DOWN ARROW key to move the text down or left. Use the RIGHT ARROW key to move the text up or to the right.
- If Quicken does not print the alignment grid, you can estimate the number to enter by 1/100ths of an inch.
- You may need different values when printing partial pages. Align full and partial sheets of checks separately. Quicken remembers the alignment settings for each page type.
- If there is an alignment issue with wallet checks, change the check style to Wallet checks or Wallet checks (Check 21).
- Go to File > Printer Setup > For Printing Checks and in the Check style section, select Wallet checks or Wallet checks (Check 21) from the dropdown. Please note, you may need to scroll down in the dropdown to see these options.