Printing checks on a Mac

You want to print a depositable check from your Mac, on the laser or inkjet printer you already own — without ordering pre-printed checkbooks. You can. The bottom line: install a check-printing app, enter your bank details once, drop in the payee and amount, and print. The app lays out the whole check — including the E-13B MICR line along the bottom — and you print onto a ream of blank check stock (about $15–$25) instead of waiting on a reorder.

CheckYourself is a native Mac app built for exactly this — whether you write one check a month or a payroll run of hundreds. It runs offline, needs no signup, and its Apple privacy label reads "Data Not Collected." If your accounting software already prints checks for you, use it; this is for everyone who needs to print checks straight from their Mac, on their own schedule, on the stock they choose.

What it costs

Try it free — the free tier prints fully-formed checks, real layout, real E-13B MICR line, real alignment tools, with a VOID watermark and no time limit. That's not a crippled demo; it's how you dial in alignment for your bank, your printer, and your stock before paying a cent. Print a clean, depositable check by removing the watermark: about $3.99/month or $39.99/year through the Mac App Store (see the App Store for current pricing), cancelable anytime. The free and paid tiers are otherwise identical — same layouts, same batch printing, same register. The watermark is the only difference.

You'll also want blank check stock (28–32 lb security paper, ~$15–$25 a ream) for anything you deposit. Plain copier paper is fine for testing alignment or free VOID copies — just don't deposit it.

Print your first check

1. Enter your bank details once

Create an account with your routing/transit number, account number, starting check number, plus your name, address, and bank name. These build the MICR line that prints on every check. You do this once and the app reuses it. Running operating, payroll, and tax accounts? Add each as its own account — unlimited accounts, each with its own register, address block, and check sequence, so numbers never collide.

2. Lay out the check — and see it

CheckYourself shows a real-time WYSIWYG preview that matches the printed output exactly. Pick one of four layouts — 3-per-page, top-stub, middle-stub, or bottom-stub — and the app positions the date, "Pay to the order of," amount box, written-amount line (spelled out in words automatically), memo, signature line, and MICR line. Need a field nudged for your specific stock? Each account has its own drag-and-drop layout editor with snap-to-grid — move a field, watch the preview update.

3. Test the alignment for free

Before you spend a check, print a test check / calibration page on plain paper and hold it against your real stock. The app's alignment tools let you nudge the print offset a millimeter at a time until every field — and the MICR line — lands right. With the free watermarked tier you can repeat this as many times as it takes, at no cost. This is the step that keeps your first real check out of the recycle bin.

4. Print on blank stock, sign, and record

Load your check stock and print for real. Sign it, and the app logs the check number, payee, amount, and date to a searchable register — so reconciliation is a quick pass, not an afternoon of squinting at stubs. Made a mistake? Void that number and reprint a clean one; the sequence and audit trail stay intact. You can also export any check to PDF without consuming a check number.

Printing a lot at once

Paying vendors or running payroll? Batch-print from a CSV. CheckYourself auto-detects the payee and amount columns (case-insensitive), with optional date and memo — so any spreadsheet with a payee column and an amount column imports. It reads a simple list, not a raw multi-column accounting export, so export a plain payee-and-amount CSV first. One typo? Void that number and reprint; the rest of the run is untouched.

Bank acceptance

CheckYourself's output complies with the payment standards — ANSI X9.100-20 (US) and CPA Standard 006 (Canada) — including a spec E-13B MICR line. Bank policies vary, so for a large first run, print one and confirm it deposits with your bank first. MICR toner is optional for most users; if your bank asks for it, the app prints to it just the same. (Not legal or banking advice.)

Blank stock or pre-printed

Pre-printed business checks aren't expensive in bulk (~$0.12–$0.30 each; ~$60–$140 a reorder), so the case for blank stock isn't pennies per check — it's everything around it: no reorder lead time (print the moment you need to pay someone), one app for every account and layout, and no vendor lock-in. A new address or a second account is an edit, not a fresh order.

One thing to skip

A do-it-yourself document template can fake the look of a check, but it won't lay down a proper E-13B MICR line — and a check that won't scan costs you more than a year of software. If you need a depositable check, you need real MICR output, which is the whole point of a dedicated app.

Download CheckYourself on the Mac App Store and print your first watermarked check free — multiple accounts, four layouts, live preview, CSV batch, the register, and PDF export, all offline on your Mac.