To feed a cheque into a printer, take a single detached leaf. Put it in the manual feed slot (or the tray if there is no slot), and slide the guides in until they just touch both edges. Then use the orientation you have already confirmed with a marked test sheet. Which face goes up and which edge goes first depends on the printer's paper path. The small paper icon printed beside the slot or tray tells you, and a test with marked plain paper confirms it in one print.
Most "the cheque printed in the wrong place" problems start with how the leaf went into the printer, not with software settings. Getting the feed right first saves a lot of margin adjustment later.
Manual feed slot or tray?
A cheque leaf is much smaller than A4, and it is often stiffer. Most printers handle small stock better through a manual or priority feed slot than through a main cassette.
| Feed path | Good for cheques? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Manual / priority feed slot (single sheet) | Best | Short, straighter path; the guides hold a small leaf firmly |
| Rear vertical feed (common on inkjets) | Good | Gravity-fed and fairly straight; keep guides snug |
| Multipurpose / bypass tray (lasers) | Good | Designed for envelopes and card; feed a few leaves at a time |
| Main cassette | Last resort | Paper bends more on the way through, and guides may not close in to cheque width |
Check the printer manual for the smallest paper size each path supports. If the main tray's minimum is larger than your cheque, the leaf will not feed reliably from it, whatever the settings. See choosing a printer for cheque printing for what to look for in the paper path.
Find the right orientation with a marked test sheet
Do not use a real cheque to find out which way round it goes. Use plain paper instead:
- Cut a sheet of plain paper to roughly the size of your cheque, or use a spoiled leaf.
- On one side, write "UP" and draw an arrow pointing to the edge you are feeding in first. Write "TOP-LEFT" in one corner.
- Feed it the way the paper icon on the printer suggests, and print a test cheque onto it.
- Look at where the print landed. It tells you which face the printer prints on, and whether the text came out upright or upside-down relative to your marks.
- Write the result on a note and stick it to the printer. For example: "Cheques: face down, top edge first, payee line towards the right guide."
That note stops the next person from wasting a leaf.
Face up or face down, which edge first
Printers from HP, Canon, Epson, Brother and others do not follow one rule. The same brand can differ between models, and between the slot and the tray on the same printer. What we can say in general:
- Read the icon. Most trays and slots have a small paper symbol showing a folded corner or a line of text, which tells you which face gets printed. Follow it, then confirm with the marked test sheet.
- Front-loading cassettes and many rear vertical feeds commonly print on the face that is down in a cassette, or facing you in a rear slot. Treat this as a starting guess, not a rule.
- Short edge or long edge first. A cheque is landscape, but most printers feed paper short edge first. That means the cheque usually goes in "sideways", with the top or bottom of the cheque leading. Your software then has to print in the matching direction.
That last point is why ChequeMaster has a vertical or horizontal print direction setting. Choose the direction that matches how the leaf actually travels through your printer. See general and cheque book settings.
Set the guides properly
Guides left at A4 width are the most common cause of skewed cheques. A small leaf in a wide slot can twist as the rollers grab it.
- Slide the guides in until they touch both edges of the leaf. They should be snug, but not tight enough to bow the paper.
- If there is a length guide, bring it up against the trailing edge too.
- Push the leaf in until it stops or the printer grabs it. Do not leave it half-inserted at an angle.
- Always put the leaf against the same guide, usually the fixed side. Then the left-right position is the same every time.
Consistency matters more than perfection. A printer that feeds the same way every time can be corrected once with margins. A leaf that sits a little differently on each print cannot.
Tell Windows the paper size
Some printer drivers refuse small paper, or assume A4 and position the print accordingly. If your printer pulls the leaf through and prints off the edge, or reports a size mismatch:
- Open the printer's Printing Preferences and look for a paper size option called Custom or User-defined. Enter your cheque's width and height (measure the leaf with a ruler).
- If the driver has no custom option, open Print server properties in Windows. In Windows 11 this is under Settings, Bluetooth & devices, Printers & scanners, in the related settings. Create a new form with the cheque size, then select it in the driver.
- Set the paper source to the slot you actually use, for example Manual feed, so the printer does not wait for paper from the cassette.
- If there is a media type setting, Plain or Thick plain usually suits cheque paper. Avoid photo settings.
Some printers centre small paper in the slot while others align it to one side. This is one reason the same layout needs different margins on different printers.
Stiff, curled and bound leaves
Detach leaves; never feed a bound book
Tear the leaf out cleanly along the perforation before printing, and keep the counterfoil in the book. Never try to feed a whole cheque book, or a leaf still attached to the book, through a printer. It will jam, can damage the rollers, and will very likely ruin several leaves at once. Remove any torn perforation tabs too, because a ragged edge can catch on the way in.
Flatten curled leaves
Leaves stored in a bent book or near a humid window can curl. A curled leading edge often misfeeds or skews. Press the leaves flat under a heavy book overnight, and store unused books flat.
Stiff stock
Cheque paper is heavier than ordinary copier paper. If the printer struggles, use the straightest path you have (manual slot or bypass tray) and the thick plain paper setting, and feed one leaf at a time. For a bulk run, load a small stack in cheque-number order, never an overfilled tray.
When to use margins
Only adjust ChequeMaster's top and left margins once the feed is consistent. Print onto plain paper, hold it behind a real cheque against a window, and check:
- Everything shifted by the same amount in the same direction: this is a feed offset. Fix it with the top or left margin, in small steps.
- Text at an angle: this is a feed problem. Go back to the guides. Margins cannot fix skew.
- Fields wrong relative to each other: this is a layout problem, not a feeding one.
The full diagnosis is in how to fix cheque printing alignment. The cheque alignment guide tool walks you through the test step by step.
