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PR Configurable Check Tutorial

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Overview 

The Configurable Check utility was developed to eliminate the need for a custom check alignment. The tool allows the user to make adjustments to sections as well as individual objects on the check to occupy with their check stock. This document details the functionality behind this utility as well as presents a procedure for completing a check alignment using the tool.  

  • General 
    • All adjustments are made in Inches 
      • Positive adjustments to the Height will move Sections down  
      • Positive adjustments to the Top will move Objects down 
      • Negative adjustments to the Height will move Sections Up 
      • Negative adjustments to the Top will move Objects Up  
      • Positive adjustments to the Left will move Objects Right 
      • Negative adjustments to the Left will move Objects Left 
      • Positive Adjustments to the Height will increase the vertical space allocated to an Object 
      • Negative adjustments to the Height  will decrease the vertical space allocated to an Object 
      • Positive adjustments to the Width will increase the horizontal space allocated to an Object 
      • Negative adjustments to the Width will decrease the horizontal space allocated to an Object 
    • The equivalent of 1 line is about 0.25”. 
    • Initial adjustments should be made in 0.25” increments. Once a general location is found more detailed adjustments can be made in .10” increments. Anything below .10” adjustment will not be visually apparent. 
    • Suppress = Remove from Check (Default is Retain) 
    • There is no way to change the Font size, style or format on the check. 
  • Check Offset 
    • The closest equivalent adjustment to the Check Offset feature is adjusting the Height of both the ABOVE CHECK and BELOW CHECK sections by the same value. 
    • Using the Check Offset alignment method does not necessarily yield desirable results with this utility. See the prescribed process below for best results. 
  • Preview Check Feature 
    • The data used to populate the check is not real 
      • Always verify final alignment in an real Computer Checks batch because real data could cause the alignment to change slightly 
    • The Check Signature will appear as the Check Logo in the preview. This is not the case when the check is actually printed in the Computer Checks batch 
    • The Pay Type field will not display any detail in the preview. This is not the case when the check is actually printed in the Computer Checks batch 

Best Practice for Check Alignment Procedure

The following procedure outlines a general process for using the Configurable Check tool. While this method provides general guidance, there is not necessarily a good base adjustment to start from because of the variety of check stock options available to clients. The key to utilizing this tool effectively and efficiently is to be very systematic about the adjustments. Making multiple adjustments between test prints will result in lost time and make it very difficult to track down the source of the incorrect adjustment. 

  1. Verify that the standard check option with the Check Offset feature will not work 
    1. If the client can use the standard option this is significantly easier to align and will save a lot of time 
    2. If the Standard Check options with Offset alignment will not work, move on to Configurable Checks 
  1. Enable Configurable Checks 
    1. PR > Utilities > Setup – Checks 
      1. Check Type is either Configurable (Stub-Check-Stub) or Configurable Long Stub 
      2. Stub Lines are the number of lines that will print on each stub 
        1. Standard will support between 20 -15 lines depending on the alignment 
        2. Configurable Long generally doesn’t have an issue with using the maximum number of stub lines 
  1. Disable Objects on the Check 
    1. Start by removing Objects from the check that are not needed (Logo, MICR Line, Payer Address, etc.) 
    2. Don’t worry about lining up anything to the check stock at this point, you just want to verify what Objects are necessary on the check 
    3. Select the Objects to remove and mark the Suppress field as True 
    4. Leave all Objects you wish to retain as “Default” 
      1. Changing some of these objects to “False” can cause the check to double space or Page Break unexpectedly 
    5. If the Bottom stub rolls onto a second page, reduce the number of Stub Lines in PR > Utilities > Setup – Checks 
    6. Use the Preview Report button to verify the check 
  1. Align the Top portion of the Stub 
    1. If you are using the Configurable Long check skip to the next step 
    2. Start by determining if the Top Stub spills over onto the check section. If so, reduce the number of Stub Lines. If the check stock is divided into three equal segments (not necessarily a given) the maximum number of lines of each stub is 19 which is a good starting point. 
    3. Move the entire Top Stub down by increasing the value in the STUB MESSAGE section (Height). Note that the Stub Message itself does not move 
    4. Use the Preview Report button to verify the check 
    5. If the bottom stub rolls over onto a second page, reduce the number of Stub Lines in PR > Utilities > Setup – Checks 
    6. Use the Preview Report button to verify the check 
  1. Align the Check Portion 
    1. Use the ABOVE CHECK section to move the entire Check and Bottom stub up or down 
    2. Once a general position is located, make adjustments to the individual elements as necessary 
    3. If the Bottom stub rolls onto a second page, reduce the number of Stub Lines in PR > Utilities > Setup – Checks 
      1. If this happens, you will likely need to realign the Top Stub 
    4. Use the Preview Report button to verify the check 
  1. Align the Bottom check stub 
    1. At this point the Bottom Stub should be in a good location 
    2. If it needs to be moved down further, use the BELOW CHECK to move everything below the MICR line up or down. 
    3. If the Bottom stub rolls onto a second page, reduce the number of Stub Lines in PR > Utilities > Setup – Checks 
      1. If this happens, you will likely need to realign the Top Stub 
    4. Use the Preview Report button to verify the check 
  1. Verify the entire check alignment 
    1. Use the Preview Report to verify all of the sections and objects are correctly positioned. Repeat steps in order if any part of the Check is not aligned 
    2. Once the alignment is verified with the Preview Report utility, create a Computer Check batch and process at least 3 different checks and 3 different ACH Checks. You will need to choose the check layout from the bottom of the print screen.  The alignment may behave differently in the batch with real data than it did in the Preview Report feature. 
      1. NOTE: The Check step will take some time to process. At the time of this tutorial each check would average about 50 seconds to process. So Checks report with 3 checks will take about three minutes to process 
    3. Repeat steps in order if any part of the Check is not aligned 
  1. Create ACH and ESS Checks 
    1. After the physical check has been aligned, use the copy button to create ACH and ESS Checks if desired. 
    2. Enable and Disable elements on the checks. Repeat entire process if alignments are significantly different 
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