
<ARTICLE ID="XACC-PRINT-CHECK">
<ARTHEADER>
<TITLE>Printing Checks</TITLE>
</ARTHEADER>
<PARA>You may print a GnuCash transaction as a check by selecting
    "Print Check" from the Transaction menu in a register display
    window.

    </PARA>
<PARA>In the Print Check dialog, select the style of check form
    that you wish to use, the position of the check on the page,
    and the format for printing the date on the check. Clicking
    <GUIMENU>OK</GUIMENU> will take you to the 
    <LINK LINKEND="XACC-PRINT">GnuCash Printing</LINK> dialog, 
    which will allow you to preview
    the check, select a printer and paper size, and start the print
    job.

    </PARA>
<sect1>
<TITLE>Check format</TITLE>
<PARA>    </PARA>
<PARA>In order to print a check, you must know where the
    pre-printed lines and boxes are on the check form. There are
    two widely-used standard check formats: Quicken/QuickBooks (tm)
    compatible, and Microsoft Money (tm) compatible.
    By default, the check format is 
    <APPLICATION>Quicken/QuickBooks</APPLICATION>,
    which prints to any Quicken-compatible check forms.

    </PARA>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<TITLE>Custom Check Format</TITLE>
<PARA>If you wish to print to a type of check form that is not in
    the <GUIMENU>Check Format</GUIMENU> option menu, select 
    <GUIMENU>Custom</GUIMENU>
    in the format menu and enter the positions of the various check
    fields in the entry boxes below.

    </PARA>
<PARA>Positions in the Custom Check Format entry area are
    specified with x = 0 at the left edge of the check with x
    increasing to the right, and y = 0 at the bottom edge of the
    check with y increasing as you travel up. Numbers may be
    entered as integer or floating point values. The length units
    specified in the <GUIMENU>Units</GUIMENU> option menu are used to
    interpret all values entered in the custom check format
    area.

    </PARA>
<PARA>If you arrive at a working set of Custom Check Format
    parameters for a commercially-available printable check form,
    please submit them to <EMAIL>gnucash-devel@gnucash.org</EMAIL> so we
    can include them as standard in a future release.

    </PARA>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<TITLE>Check position</TITLE>
<PARA>Printable check forms are available in several styles. In
    general, each printable sheet is divided into three sections,
    and each section can be either a check or a stub. The Check
    Position option menu allows you to select which section of the
    page contains the check you wish to print to. <GUIMENU>Top</GUIMENU>,
    <GUIMENU>Middle</GUIMENU>, and <GUIMENU>Bottom</GUIMENU> should be defined
    correctly for check forms using the paper size that you select
    in the printing dialog.

    </PARA>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<TITLE>Custom check position</TITLE>
<PARA>If the preset check positions do not work correctly for your
    check forms, you may choose <GUIMENU>Custom</GUIMENU> from the Check
    Position option menu and enter a position for the check in the
    <GUIMENU>Check Position</GUIMENU> entry. Enter the distance along the
    left edge of the paper from the lower left-hand corner of the
    page to the lower left-hand corner of the check. The units of
    this measurement are those selected in the "Units" option
    menu.
    </PARA>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<TITLE>Date format</TITLE>
<PARA>Select your preferred date format from the picker. The
    picker shows examples using the date of December 31,
    2000 for all formats, but your date will be substituted
    when printing.
    The <SCREEN>MM/DD/</SCREEN> and <SCREEN>DD/MM/</SCREEN> formats are
    available, but they are strongly discouraged since they cannot
    always be distinguished from each other. Please use a format
    with a full or abbreviated month name instead of a number.

    </PARA>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<TITLE>Custom date format</TITLE>
<PARA>If you wish to use another date format besides those
    available in the picker, select <GUIMENU>Custom</GUIMENU> and enter a
    date-formatting string in the <GUIMENU>Date Format</GUIMENU> entry in the
    custom settings area. If custom date format is selected, this
    string is passed to <FUNCTION>strftime(3)</FUNCTION> as a format
    specifier.
  </PARA>
</sect1>
</ARTICLE>

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