Alteration Prevention; Application Design; Numbered Stocks - Xerox 6100BD - Phaser Color Laser Printer Fundamentals

Generic MICR Fundamentals Guide
• Watermark: A variation that is made in the opacity of the
paper during manufacturing. An artificial watermark is
typically a white ink image that is printed on the back of the
check.
• Drop-out ink: Very low density ink that is used to print a
message, usually on the back of the check
• Thermochromic ink: An ink that is used to create an image
that changes color when warmed by a finger

Alteration prevention

The most common security features for detecting alteration of
forms include:
• Security backgrounds: Patterns printed in the check
background that show any attempt to alter the image.
Regular patterns are preferable; irregular patterns may
merge with altered areas.
• Fugitive inks: Inks that run when they come in contact with
liquids

Application design

Intelligent application design can provide additional protection
against alteration.
• In left- and right-fill fields, pad any open space with additional
characters. Asterisks (*) are recommended to fill in the
convenience amount field (the amount written in numerals).
• Redundant data—duplicate information, such as the amount
written in both numbers and words—makes altering the valid
check data more difficult.
• Fonts with large, wide-stroke characters are more difficult to
alter than small, narrow type faces.

Numbered stocks

Preprinting sequential numbers on the sheets of MICR stock is a
useful tool for tracking stock usage. Numbered stock is helpful
for determining the number of sheets that were used for a check
printing job, reconciling against the size of the job and the
number of sheets that were used but not issued as checks.
Following are some points to note for using numbered stocks:
Paper facts
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