Print yields with MICR toner cartridges

Print Yields of MICR toner cartridges

On our website the yield means the number of checks a toner cartridge should be able to print, based on printing 3 checks per page. On other websites you may see a disclaimer that says toner cartridge yields are based on 5% toner coverage. This doesn't mean much to most people, nor does it really apply when printing checks. Actual number of checks that can be printed with any MICR cartridge is based on a number of variables:

Printer Darkness Settings

#1 cause of getting a lower than expected yield is having your laser printer set at the wrong darkness setting. High darkness settings can use up to 10 TIMES the amount of MICR toner for each check printed. Our CheckToner™ MICR is the darkest available so some laser printers can be set at "#1" (on the 1 to 10 darkness setting scale). Most of our MICR produces the best bank-readable checks at darkness settings #2 through #4. Some of our MICR cartridges can print good checks at setting #1 because our MICR toner is so much darker and denser than competitors. On printers without "1 to 10" settings, use the Toner Saver mode (a/k/a Ecomony Mode). Toner Saver mode is the equivalent to a darkness setting of 3 or 4 on most low cost laser printers. We believe the printer manufacturers intentionally leave off the "1 to 10" options on cheaper printers so people who purchase them are forced to use much more toner (more $$$ in the pockets of the manufacturers, especially Hp and Samsung). When you scrimp on the cost of the printer, you usually end up paying much more over time for toner cartridges. All our posted yield estimates are based on using the best laser printer in each category. In other words, most toner cartridges fit into a variety of different printer models around the world. Our estimated yields are based on our testing with the best in each group. As new printers become available, we always test at least one in the group to determine the best blend of MICR that will deliver the best yield. If you want to see a sample of our testing, look at the 4 test checks on our MICR Information Page.

Types of checks

#2 cause of lower than expected yield is number of checks per page that you are printing. Intuit is the largest publisher of check printing software under the tradenames Quicken and QuickBooks. Intuit softwares are primarily designed to use letter-sized sheets that can print 3 checks per page or voucher checks with 2 stubs. Photos below on left are examples. The left and center photo use almost the same amount of toner because there is text in all 3 sections of the paper. If you print only 1 check per page like the photo below on the right, the yield will be higher. However, all laser printers cover the entire page with a thin layer of toner so you won't get 3 times the amount of pages when printing single checks.

3 checks per page voucher check & 2 stubs single check per page

Content on checks

#3 cause of lower than expected yield is the text, images and other elements being printed on each check. Printing the minimal amount of text to make a legal check using a font size of 8pt, 9pt or 10pt in Arial (the font you see here) without adding ANY other divider lines, photos or logos, will use the least amount of toner. BOLD faced type, larger type, heavier font, extra text, images, watermarks, logos and extra lines will ALL reduce yield. If you are not sure about the content of your checks, send us a sample for a free analysis.

Printer & cartridge condition

#4: Condition of the printer and cartridge parts has a major affect on the number of checks that can be printed with a MICR cartridge. New printers with new cartridges and new drums produce the best yields. Older printers with used or recycled cartridge parts have the lowest yields. Every laser printer has a shiny green or blue metal roller called the drum. If the drum is built into the cartridge, purchasing and using our Max-Fill™ MICR cartridges will give you the best yield. If your printer uses cartridges where the drum is not part of the toner cartridge, keep an eye on the pages you print. When text starts to get lighter, we suggest replacing the drum or you'll get a lower yield from regular toner and MICR toner cartridges.

We've seen competitors selling MICR cartridges with used drums that are in very poor condition. You can't tell by physically looking at a drum. When you install a cartridge with a bad drum the output is light gray, full of spots, streaks or all 3. Our Single and Double filled CheckToner™ MICR cartridges have used drums, but we inspect them to make sure they can print bank-readable checks. Unfortunately we can't calculate how much life is left in a used drum. In other words, the used drum may fail before you've used all or even most of the MICR toner in the cartridge. This is another reason why most of our customers purchase our Max-Fill™ MICR cartridges which do not havee recycled parts.

Printer usage

#5: People sometimes forget to remove MICR cartridges from printers when printing other documents that can be printed with regular toner. Or, some prefer to use a MICR cartridge to print everything. Our print yields are based on printing ONLY checks. Some users of our Max-Fill™ CheckToner™ cartridges have said they prefer our cartridges to print everything because they've determined that 1 of our Max-Fill™ produces a lower overall cost than buying 6 or more regular toner cartridges. However, when printing documents other than checks with one of our MICR cartridges, we suggest lowering the toner darkness setting.

Check paper

#6: ABA (American Bankers Asssociation) standards for check paper is 24 pound thickness which is thicker than normal copy paper. Check paper may have background color(s) or pre-printed patterns and a coating. The type of ink or coating used can affect how MICR toner looks and adheres to the paper. If you are not sure about the check paper you have, tell us where you purchased it or send us a few sample sheets for a free analysis. If you don't already have check paper, we offer our ChecksForms™ as shown below. .

All estimated yields on checksnet.com are based on using our MICR cartridges to print 3 checks per page with minimal amount of text and lowest toner darkness that produces bank-readable checks on ChecksForms paper. We determine these estimates based on actual check printing tests in our offices with laser printers from Dell, Epson, Hp, Lexmark, Okidata, Samsung and Xerox.

For more information about our CheckToner™ MICR cartridges click HERE

BOTTOM LINE: Our Max-Filled™ MICR cartridges = lowest cost per check.