How to Set Up Cheque Alignment With the Guides

This walks through lining up the values URBI prints with the boxes already printed on your pre-printed cheque stock, using the on-screen alignment guides. If you are new to cheque printing, read Cheque Alignment Guides, Overview first.

You will need a KORE or PREMIUM plan with accounting enabled and accounting-settings access.

1. Open the Cheque Printing setup

Go to Property Settings → Accounting Settings → the Cheque Printing tab. Pick an existing profile from the Profile dropdown, or create a new one.

2. Turn the guides on

Make sure Show guides (above the preview) is on, it is by default. You will see the dashed guide outlines that reproduce a real cheque: the payer and bank blocks, the "$" box, "Pay to the order of", the memo, the security marks, and the MICR line along the bottom. A legend labels each item Dynamic (prints) or Guide (pre-printed, never prints).

3. Line up each printable field with its guide

For every field URBI prints (payee, date, amount, amount in words, memo, cheque number, payer address, signature line):

• Drag the field in the preview so it sits over the matching guide outline, or
• Select the field and type exact X / Y millimetre values in the control row.
• Use the arrow keys to nudge 1 mm at a time (hold Shift for 0.5 mm).

Work down the cheque: payee onto the "Pay to the order of" line, the amount into the "$" box, the amount-in-words onto the dollars line, the date onto the DATE label, and so on.

4. Pay special attention to the MICR line

The MICR line is the row of numbers along the very bottom edge, cheque number, transit, and account, printed in a special magnetic font that your bank's equipment reads. It is already on your cheque stock, so the guide is only there to show you where it is.

Because the bottom edge is where alignment problems show up most, the preview is now sized to a real cheque's proportions so that anything you place near the bottom (like the amount or a memo) lands where it will on paper and does not collide with the MICR band. Keep your printable fields clear of the MICR guide.

5. Check the payee-copy stub

Below the cheque are two remittance-advice stubs (a business copy and a payee copy). The payee copy now drops down to leave a reserved blank gap for the address block that is pre-printed on the stub. On screen the gap is labelled for setup; when you print, it comes out blank so it does not overlap the pre-printed address. You do not need to do anything here, just confirm it looks right.

6. Test print onto a real cheque

Click Print test page to print the layout with a grid overlay and field labels. The guides and the pre-printed chrome do not appear on the test print, only the fields that will really print. Hold the test page against one of your actual cheques (or run a spare cheque through the printer) to confirm every field lands in its box. Adjust and repeat until it lines up.

7. Save, and, optionally, declutter

Click Save to store the layout on the profile. If you like, turn Show guides off to hide the outlines and see just what prints. You can also Apply to all my properties to reuse the profile across your company's accounting-eligible properties.

Notes

• The guides, chrome, and the reserved-address gap are setup aids only, they never print, including on the test page.
• Your existing saved profiles already include the guides at their default positions; nothing needs to be redone.
• Printing never changes accounting records, it is display-only.
• Cheque printing currently supports US Letter cheque stock.