Fonts, changing size on checks, moving fields on voucher checks (Q Mac)

KPB Corporation

I want to change font size on voucher checks -- can't seem to figure out how to do it.

Also fields on checks are not aligned on checks. I'm using a 3 part voucher check from Deluxe. All fields move together, not individually.

USA

Any solutions?

Thanks.

NotACPA

I saw nothing on Deluxe's website that indicated their checks were "Quicken compatible".  Am I missing something?
If I'm not, you simply bought checks that won't work with Quicken/Intuit products.

KPB Corporation

It's quite possible I made that mistake. In the past I had ordered voucher checks and didn't have the same problem. Thanks for the help.

jacobs

The simple answer, I'm sorry to say, is that you can't change the font or font size on checks. Your only font control is switching the font to bold — there's a checkbox for that at the bottom of the Print Checks dialog box.

You can also only move all the fields together; there is no way to reposition them individually. Choose the best compromise of position you can find, even though something may be higher or lower than you'd want it to be. This has been noted many times here in the forum by those who print checks, and the developers haven't acted on it. (I'm not even sure it's on their active radar that this is still causing problems for users.)

The problem is that printing checks is a portion of the code that was inherited from the predecessor 2010-era Quicken Essentials, and changing check printing to allow fields to be independently positioned would require scrapping and re-writing that section of the code in the current development environment. It's certainly not impossible to fix; it's just a question of how many people are having trouble with it and how the developers prioritize this versus other needs. The former product manager for Quicken Mac said at one point that they would re-visit this after they finished making some other improvements to report printing, but this seems to have fallen down or off their list.

There is an existing Idea thread on this topics for users to VOTE for this to be raised as a priority need with the developers. Not many people have voted for it, which is probably why the issue remains. I encourage you, and anyone else reading this who is having a similar problem, to go to this thread and vote for it. (To vote, under the first post in the large yellow box, click the little dark gray arrow under the counter to register your vote.)

KPB Corporation

I did check the order -- checks are shown as Q compatible. Alignment is not off badly but still can't figure out how to adjust the fields vertically.

KPB Corporation

Thanks for the background. I'll go vote for a rewrite. I don't know much about how extensive that effort would be but it doesn't seem overwhelming. Problem seems like they've looked at it and decided that and cost would not be offset by additional revenue, a money loser.

UKR

This article has more information about adjusting the alignment when printing checks under Q Mac:

https://help.quicken.com/display/MAC/Writing+and+printing+checks

jacobs

KPB Corporation said:

Thanks for the background. I'll go vote for a rewrite. I don't know much about how extensive that effort would be but it doesn't seem overwhelming. Problem seems like they've looked at it and decided that and cost would not be offset by additional revenue, a money loser.

I don't think that's the issue. Most things the developers create don't align with more revenue. But they do have the problem of more than 500 feature requests on this site alone; they have to decide what to prioritize based on feedback from this site, feedback from their Support representatives, data analytics about how users are using the application, and their own gut feelings about which features should be prioritized. It's my guess that a large number of Quicken Mac users don't print checks, and of those who do, the current printing is adequate. That's why it's important for users impacted by printing alignment problems to vote for the feature request; more votes can help push something up the priority list. 

Chris_QPW

From what I understand this is more than a "programming problem".

They purposely don't have such features because the user is supposed to be using the "supported ones" because the financial system requires it.  They don't want people just willy nilly putting in whatever font they want.

There is probably also a money reason (they get to sell special checks), but the main justification I have heard is the requirements of the financial system.

jacobs

@Chris_QPW Sorry, no. There is a definite problem in the Quicken Mac format of checks which causes the memo line to appear too low, or the other lines to appear too high, on many supported checks.

The problem is that all the text printed one the check is one block of text lines. There is already the ability to move the entire text block up/down left/right for alignment; with people using thousands of different printers, that's needed. But there's no way to adjust one of the lines by about half a line's height, which is what's needed to solve this issue. They could easily provide that ability without running afoul of any banking requirements for checks.

Even currently, a user can position the text such that the memo line overlaps the MICR-encoded bottom line, which is a definite no-no — so the limitation in the Mac version has nothing to do with the "financial system".

It's a pure programming issue; they just need to break out the Memo line and create a UI for adjusting that line up/down independent of the Payee/Amount text.

Chris_QPW

@jacobs thanks.  This sounds different than similar sounding ones mentioned on the Windows side.