MICRtype is a MICR E-13B font for printing your own checks, made by Meridian Design, LLC. Founder Derek Nelsen needed to print checks and did not trust the MICR fonts available, which look like they were built in the early 2000s and never updated. So Derek bought the ANSI specifications and built a font by hand.
After four years, the font ships with a precision micro-adjustment tool that tunes it to your printer. Paper checks remain common. A 2024 Federal Reserve study, as reported by the Atlanta Fed, found that 83% of small firms and about two-thirds of medium and large firms use paper checks for business payments. The goal is to close the gap between paper and digital payments, so the font works on the desktop, on the web and inside apps.
What is MICR E-13B?
E-13B is the font banks use for the routing, account and check numbers along the bottom of a check. The American Bankers Association developed it in 1956. Since the Check 21 Act most checks are read optically, but the line on a printed check still has to meet ANSI X9.100-20, so shape and spacing matter.
What MICRtype changes
Printers differ in stroke weight, drift and paper feed, so MICRtype is a variable font with edge, tracking and skew axes. Print the calibration sheet at 100% scale, circle the row that reads cleanest on each page, then install the matching font or cut a custom one. The docs cover each step.
How we check the work
The font follows ANSI X9.100-20-2021, and Derek checked the clauses we cite against a licensed copy of the standard. Every font file ships with a Conformance Report, in PDF and JSON, that audits its outlines for character shapes, stroke widths, dimensions and pitch. Share it with your bank or auditor as is. Each report names the SHA-256 hash of the file it audited, so a file with a different hash is not covered.
The report cannot see your printer, toner, paper or reader. It is our own test result, not a certification, and Meridian is not accredited by ANSI or X9. Test a printed check with your bank before you rely on it.
The first versions were tested at banks, then with a printed check mailed to the IRS along with a tax return. It bounced because the account was short.
What happens to your data
We never collect bank details or card numbers. Polar, our merchant of record, handles payment. An account needs only an email address and signs in with an emailed code. Our analytics run on our own server without cookies, and the site shows no ads. When you cut a font or download a calibration sheet, your name or email goes to our font service to stamp the file, and the service stores nothing. The privacy policy has the full list.
Who's behind it
All sales are final, so try the free sample files first. The EULA covers what each license allows. Questions, suggestions and bug reports go through the support chat at the bottom right of any page, the only way to reach us.