Single checks only print date and amount - no payee etc.

peteranger · March 30

I'm using Quicken Classic Premier, always at current version. I have a HP Laser Jet Pro MFP m283…

When attempting to print a single check, having made sure all the Quicken setup is correct for this, a check will feed through the printer and print the date and check amount exactly where it's supposed to be. However, NOTHING else prints. Since the Payee is on the same line as the amount, I would have expected at least that to also print. It does not. I've checked the printer for driver or firmware updates. I'm current there too.

An interesting twist on this is that if I put a sheet of blank 8 1/2 x 11" paper instead, every thing prints where it's supposed to print..

Does anyone know why this happens? Better yet, can anyone explain how to get the single check to print correctly in the first place?

NotACPA · March 30

Wait, the Payee field prints if you're using blank paper, but not if your using an actual check??? Is this for the same transaction?

Because what I think you're describing is just plain bizarre. Neither Q nor your printer know the nature of what's in the paper feed tray.

Are you using, perhaps, some special kind of checks (not provided by Q/Intuit) that have some kind of protective coating on the payee field?

And when you say that the amount prints, does that include both the numeric amount and the "word" amount?

peteranger · March 30

Yes, I find this as bizarre as you. I can print 3 checks and 2 checks without issue. It's only when I want to print that third check of the page. I change the Check Printer Setup to "centered" and Quicken goes haywire. The HP printer allows for centered checks in both the manual feed or paper tray. In both cases, the date and amount print, but nothing else.

Since the checks come three to a page, and two of them print correctly, I am confident in ruling out the actual check being the issue.

I have repeated the transaction multiple times and with different checking accounts. I simply cannot print a single check. I did try one other experiment. If I position the check in the paper tray so that it sits on top of a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and print the check as if it were the first of three checks, all data appears. Of course, the printer is fairly likely to jam, so this is not my preferred backup plan. I'd rather void that third check of the page and print the one check on a new sheet of checks.

UKR · March 30

Which of the setup options for 1-check-left partial pages have you tried?

cap16 check printer setup partial page.PNG

If Centered makes "Quicken goes haywire" … what does that mean?

Without using a blank sheet of paper, does the printer tend to jam?

Have you tried the Edge option, feeding the single check sideways along the left edge?

If you can't resolve the partial check page printing issue, you can try to use form leaders to feed your printer with a proper 8.5x11" sheet while feeding a partial 1- or 2-checks page in normal portrait orientation.

See https://intuitmarket.intuit.com/supplies/forms/form-leaders for an example of form leaders. Check your local office supply store, search on the Internet (Amazon?) or order from Intuit.

My 2cents' worth:
I use Voucher Checks (1 business size check + 2 stubs on an 8.5x11" sheet). My printers do not have a manual feed tray or 2nd paper tray that can easily be reconfigured to feed partial pages (1 or 2 checks left from a 3-checks-per-page sheet), so for my occasional check printing needs Voucher Checks are easiest to use.
When making a purchase decision for a new supply of check forms and considering your own check stock to use, consider how easy or difficult it is to feed special forms or odd-size partial pages into your printer.

peteranger · March 30

I use the "Centered" option when printing single checks. My printer's tray and manual feeds won't permit the edge alignment. I have tried the portrait option, but more often than not the check jams. When it doesn't jam, it prints correctly.

I have too many checks on hand to warrant different check styles in the future. and my printer is still fairly new. So, swapping it out doesn't make sense. Cheapest and easiest, but most aggravating, work around is to shred any single checks I have and load a fresh page of three when I need to print one.

Ideally, Quicken should work as advertised..

Rocket J Squirrel · March 30

Neither Q nor your printer know the nature of what's in the paper feed tray.

Wrong. Many modern printers detect paper size, usually with undesirable results.

Cheapest and easiest, but most aggravating, work around is to shred any single checks I have and load a fresh page of three when I need to print one.

Probably more economical to use form leaders than shred 1/3 of your checks.

https://intuitmarket.intuit.com/supplies/forms/form-leaders

NotACPA · March 30

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484032#Comment_20484032

But, the printer doesn't know if it's blank paper or a check. And, per the OP's message, it IS printing other fields … so it's not apparent that paper size is relevant.

UNLESS, of course, the OP is using different input slots for plain paper vs. checks.

I'm just trying to narrow down what's different about the 2.

Rocket J Squirrel · March 30

I'm just trying to narrow down what's different about the 2.

He's using Centered for single checks.

This is a printer bug. The printer should allow single checks to go through in Portrait mode as printers have done for decades. Now printer manufacturers think they're so smart by noticing partial pages and refusing to use them.

I did try one other experiment. If I position the check in the paper tray so that it sits on top of a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and print the check as if it were the first of three checks, all data appears. Of course, the printer is fairly likely to jam, so this is not my preferred backup plan.

This should work. I don't know why it would cause a jam. Try telling the printer honestly it's check 3 of 3 instead of check 1 of 3. Failing that, I'd exchange the printer while still under warranty.

NotACPA · March 30

@Rocket J Squirrel

A "Printer bug" that only impacts one field on the check? That only impacts one field (payee) on the line?

Sounds improbable to me.

Please elaborate.

peteranger · March 30

Probably more economical to use form leaders than shred 1/3 of your checks..

I'm not losing 1/3 of the checks with the workaround. I try to batch checks in such a way that I don't end up with a singleton if I can avoid it.

===================================================================

A "Printer bug" that only impacts one field on the check? That only impacts one field (payee) on the line? Sounds improbable to me. Please elaborate.

The only fields that print are the date and the amount. The payee field is immediately to the left of amount, that's why I mentioned it. If one line item prints, shouldn't the entire line print?

====================================================================

The printer should allow single checks to go through in Portrait mode as printers have done for decades.

The printer does allow the single checks to go through in Portrait mode - centered in the tray or manual feed slot. But only those two fields print.

====================================================================

This should work. I don't know why it would cause a jam.

Feeding a single check into the printer in landscape mode sometimes results in a bad or failed transport through the printer, causing the jam. It's physically possible, but problematic. When it works, the check prints correctly. It's only a fail when going through the printer in portrait mode centered in the feed.

=====================================================================

But, the printer doesn't know if it's blank paper or a check. And, per the OP's message, it IS printing other fields … so it's not apparent that paper size is relevant. UNLESS, of course, the OP is using different input slots for plain paper vs. checks.

I am not using different slots for plain paper vs. checks. I run the check again, but use a full sheet of blank paper instead of the centered check. As stated previously, when printed on a full sheet of paper, every field on the check prints - exactly in the center of the sheet.

peteranger · March 30

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484032#Comment_20484032

At $22 a pop (plus tax and shipping), the form leader isn't exactly "economical". Especially if they only last for about 40 uses…

Rocket J Squirrel · March 31

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484061#Comment_20484061

You get 10 for that price, so 400 uses.

peteranger · March 31

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484067#Comment_20484067

Noted. However, in thinking this over, and doing the math, if the adhesive doesn't hold up to the maximum number of re-uses, then the cost per use ends up being more than $.05 each, which is roughly the cost of the checks I purchased. Then there's the inconvenience of using the form leader. Scant few reviews anywhere on line, except for a competitor's product at Amazon, and most of those reviews are at least 5 years old.

I'm pretty sure I'll not spend the money, but it's good to know I've got alternatives..

The ideal solution would be to find the root cause of the printing issue and resolve it so the printer and Quicken work as expected. Absent that, I'll void the occasional singleton check and wait until my (no longer under warranty) printer dies and shop Amazon until I find one that works with Quicken. (Gotta love their return policy. 😁)

q_lurker · March 31

When I printed checks, long ago, I made my own form leader with a piece of Post-it tape. Properly positioned so as to not interfere with the actual print, any tape can work adequately. Less adherent is better obviously.

If the printer is actually balking at the shorter piece of paper for some reason, you might even try creating a form-extension, adding on the bottom 2/3 of the page.

peteranger · March 31

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484163#Comment_20484163

I don't think the printer is "balking". I think there's a bug in Quicken. I have some ideas for my own form leader (using a sheet of plastic laminate and cutting out an opening to accommodate printing). No adhesive involved. I'll have to see if the heat generated by the printer will fuse the laminate to the check.

All of this is interesting to discuss, but as a former programmer, I'd really like to hear some suggestions as to the cause of the partial printing on a single check printed in centered mode in Quicken. The printer handles the paper feed fine. I suspect a program or interface glitch..

q_lurker · March 31

I am as baffled as the others. What I have heard you say is printing a ‘short page’ check to a full size sheet prints fine. Printing that same check to a shorter sheet prints some but not all the info.

Blame Quicken if you want, but I don’t see (can’t imagine) the program sending different info based on the sheet the printer might pull.

You should not have to but have you tried from Quicken to a pdf file then the pdf to the printer? It’s an experiment I’d consider just to see what happens.

peteranger · March 31

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484212#Comment_20484212

As a former programmer, my take remains that if you print one of several fields on a line, then all fields on that line should print as well. So, potentially, it's a Quicken bug. Or it's a glitch between Quicken and the HP printer on the single page print. In any case, nothing I've tried lets me easily make use of a singleton check.

To answer your question, yes, I attempted to print to a PDF. That resulted in the check positioned in the center of an 8 1/2" x 11" page in landscape mode. All information printed.

Thanks to all who have chimed in, but I think I'm done thinking about this. I'll print in batches of threes when possible. If I need to print two checks, I'll void the third and have a page of three ready for the next time.

Cheers..

NotACPA · March 31

BUT, if it's a Q bug, why does it print correctly to blank paper? Q doesn't know what's in your paper feed.

Doesn't know the size and doesn't know paper vs. check.

Jim_Harman · March 31

Here is an untested theory of why the single check doesn't print correctly:

Laser printers, unlike ink jet or dot matrix printers, compose a whole page image before printing anything and thus items to be printed do not need to be sent in any particular order; the printer driver can just send out a cursor positioning command before sending each piece of text.

I think a cursor position that is outside the current page size, even if nothing is printed, may end the page and cause it to be ejected. This is what lets a sheet printer emulate a dumb continuous-form printer.

So if the printer is set up for a narrow centered sheet and Quicken via the printer driver sends out a cursor position after the date and amount that is off-page, the sheet would eject before printing the Payee.

Do you get a Paper-out indication after the partial check is printed? If you put 2 check-sized sheets in the centered feeder and tell Quicken to print one check, do the Payee and other missing information print on the second sheet? Either of those would be an indication that this is what is happening.

peteranger · April 1

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484257#Comment_20484257

Then why does Quicken, not print payee. It comes before the amount on the page. It doesn't seem to me that this triggers an off page condition..

No, there is no Paper-out indication. The printer prints the check normally - absent the requisite data, of course..

I've said repeatedly that I can print one check correctly if it's the first one on a page of two or three checks. It also prints correctly if I manage to get it to print in landscape mode (letting the printer think it has a full sized sheet. The only fail is when I use Centered mode to print one check.

peteranger · April 1

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20484253#Comment_20484253

I agree. Yet, The problem persists. I don't care who's at fault. I just want it to work.

NotACPA · April 1

And why not a printer error? OR, single check vs. full piece of paper isn't a valid comparison.

That Q prints properly on a full sheet of paper leaves out, in my mind, Q as the culprit.

Single checks only print date and amount - no payee etc.

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