GNUMICR MICR / E13-B font
A PostScript(tm) Type 1 MICR Font released under the GPL.
Copyright (c) 2000-2003, Eric Sandeen <sandeen-gnumicr *at* sandeen *dot* net>
This font is released under the GNU General Public License ("GPL")
(see the file COPYING for details).
Important details to note about the license:
1) This font comes with NO WARRANTY. I am not responsible for any
damages or expenses resulting from its use.
2) This font may only be distributed with the license and the source code
to the font intact. It's not exactly clear to me how the GNU GPL applies to
fonts, but in my eyes, the font file "GnuMICR.raw" is the "source code" to
this font, and the files "GnuMICR.pfa" and "GnuMICR.pfb" are the compiled
versions. if you redistribute the "compiled" version, you must also
distribute, or offer to distribute, the "source" version (see COPYING).
Also, it is my wish that this font not be distributed in such a way
that it is built into a proprietary piece of software. I'll leave
the legal wrangling to the lawyers, but in my opinion, if you
write, say, a non-GPL'd check printing application for Windows,
you should not hard-code or embed this font into your application.
I feel that this would be the font-equivalent of linking libraries.
If you wish to distribute this font with your app, that's fine,
but I feel that it should be distributed alongside the application,
with all copyright & license info intact, per the terms of the GPL.
I have spent MANY hours on this font. Please respect my work, and
follow my wishes regarding licensing of this particular font.
For a brief introduction to fonts, copyright, and piracy, see
"Ethics and Licensing Issues Related to Type" at
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Font-HOWTO-12.html
--------------------------
Ok, with that out of the way...
A while ago, I set out to be able to print my own checks under Linux. The
first requirement was that I find a MICR font (those funky numbers and
symbols at the bottom of your check) that could be freely
distributed with the application. I quickly found that such a thing didn't
exist, so I set out to make my own. This font is the result.
I coded this font by hand, without the aid of any GUI font application.
My goal was to be as accurate as possible, with complete control over
the resulting font. I found dimensions and other specs for the font
and their use at http://www.cdnpay.ca/eng/rules/006.ENG.htm
This seems to be mostly geared towards Canadian standards, but the MICR
font is an ISO standard, and the glyph dimensions should be the same
as are used in the United States.
My sole source for information for this font was the URL above. This font
is NOT a modified version of any existing MICR font.
The "source code" to this font is the file "GnuMICR.raw" This file
may be converted into an actual Type 1 (.pfa or .pfb) font with
the "t1utils" package available
at http://www.lcdf.org/~eddietwo/type/#t1utils
I have not had this font tested by any bank. You should get best results
with a 600dpi PostScript(tm) printer, probably worse results with a 300
dpi laserjet printer via GhostScript. The hinting on the font is likely
not perfect, so rendering at lower DPI may introduce some errors.
I have had some very good reports of people using this font for
commercial printing, however.
I'm not a PostScript(tm) expert by any means. If anyone who is reading
this document _is_ and would like to offer suggestions or patches for the
font or its associated .afm file, please feel free to do so.
Also, if you have access to the tools needed to really test the font,
and you feel like doing that, I would really like to hear from you.
I'd like to make this the best MICR font available. I think it's
well on its way - see "comparison.png" for an overlay of GnuMICR
vs. a sample from a commercial font. Note the strange arcs in some
regions of the commercial font.
The TTF font provided in this package was converted by a third
party using Windows NT. As such, I have very little confidence
in the quality of the TTF font. If you want the result of my hard
work on dimensional accuracy, use the postscript font.
See the file INSTALL for help installing this font.
-Eric Sandeen
July 1, 2000
Updated March 2, 2003