20 March 2010

4 Distinctive Factors between an MICR Toner and a Laser Toner

Composition, usage, price, and what printers to use are the distinctive factors that make an MICR toner different from an ordinary laser toner.

Toners have become a very useful tool when it comes to printing any type of printouts. Basically, they are substances or a powder that forms into text or images when printed into paper with the use of a printer. They are one of the basic components that produce high quality pictures and very important documents. They are available in black or in different colors. There are also many forms of toners and two of them are the MICR toner and the laser toner. The following will give you a clear distinction between the two:

Composition

One factor that would basically differentiate an MICR toner from a laser toner is their composition. MICR toners have a ‘magnetic’ property in the presence of 50% to 60% iron oxide content. Laser toners, on the other hand, has a dry powdery texture and have the same components of an MICR toner but with very little or no iron oxide content.

Usage

Both toners print out high quality pictures and documents, but their difference lies on where they are being used. MICR toners are used to print out personalized banking checks and confidential documents such as tickets. Because of its magnetic property, documents printed with this type of toner can be read by specialized machines by electronic systems that would recognize, check, and validate any information or codes encrypted in the documents within a matter of seconds. The use of this toner for sensitive documents has been a huge help in preventing fraudulent activities and counterfeiting of checks, and is now being used by many banks and financial institutions throughout the world. As for laser toners, they are mostly used at home, school, and by business and printing companies to print high quality print outs of any type of documents, whether legal or not, as well as high-resolution images such as digital printing or photography. With laser toners, printing is also faster, capable of printing numbers of copies within a minute.

Availability and price

MICR toners are not common and not readily available in any store, and cost more than ordinary laser toners too. This is because the American National Standard Institute has been constantly regulating the production and distribution of the toner, and authorized banks and institutions are only allowed to sell them. Laser toners can be bought in any printing stores and they are available in black and in various colors.

What printer to use
Only special laser printers can print using MICR toners. Though there are already common printers that can now utilize it like the HP brand. Laser toners can be used in many printers as long as its cartridges are compatible with the machines.

It is best that you use the right toner when printing your documents. Better that you use a different printer in printing ordinary documents and another for checks.