Free check maker and check generator

How a check gets from this page to paper

You type the payee and the amount. The amount in words is written for you, including the cents, and you do not edit that line by itself. You pick one of ten designs, look at the front and the back, then download a PDF. Personal designs are 6 by 2.75 inches. Business designs are 8.5 by 3.5 inches.

Three-Up Compact is meant for three checks on one letter sheet. Voucher Top puts the check on top of two stubs. The stub height is a choice we made so the sheet adds up to 11 inches. It is not a measurement we took from a particular brand of check stock.

What the line at the bottom is doing

The bottom 5/8 inch is kept clear. The routing number sits in a fixed place, the amount field on the right is left blank for the bank, and the account number is set in E-13B shapes. Those shapes come from Zachary Schneider's drawings (SIL Open Font License 1.1). The character height is per our best public sources. We have not measured it with a bank MICR gauge, and the artist has not had the drawings bank-tested either. Read the MICR line explanation and the license.

The routing number has a checksum

A routing number is exactly 9 digits. The tool weights them 3, 7, 1 and checks that the total is divisible by 10, which is the ABA check digit. It also looks at the first two digits. Prefixes for paper checks are 00, 01 through 12, 21 through 32, and 80. Prefixes 61 through 72 are for electronic payments, so you get a warning. Other ranges are rejected. If the number fails, compare it with the nine digits at the bottom left of a check you already have.

About toner and whether a bank will take it

Many banks accept home-printed checks. Some require magnetic (MICR) toner. Ask your bank and print a test check first. This is not legal advice, and it is not a promise that a deposit will go through. Regulation CC describes the MICR line as numbers in magnetic ink (12 CFR 229.2). A lot of banks now read an image of the check. Simmons Bank's printing standards still tell business customers to use MICR toner. Ask the bank that holds the account.

Safety and the short version of the terms

• Printing checks on your own account is allowed.
• Misuse is a federal crime (18 U.S.C. § 513). FinCEN reported 350,000+ check-fraud SARs in 2021 and 680,000+ in 2022 (FIN-2023-Alert003, February 27, 2023).
• PaidPilot is not a bank and is not affiliated with your bank.
• Bank acceptance is not guaranteed.
• Some banks want MICR toner. Plain toner may be enough for others.
• Routing and account numbers are not stored. Vercel Insights can still record that the page was opened.

There is no bank logo, no image upload, and no signature picture. The signature line is blank on purpose. There is no void-check tool. To report misuse, contact DME Computer Services, the company that publishes PaidPilot.

Related: how to print checks at home, blank check templates, and the free check register. If you are billing the same job, the invoice generator is free too.