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1FreeCheck v0.30.1, March 11, 2014
2Eric Sandeen, <sandeen-freecheck@sandeen.net>
3James Klicman, <james@klicman.org>
4Caleb Maclennan, <caleb@alerque.com>
5
6-----------------------------------------------
7| READ THE "WARNING" FILE BEFORE YOU PROCEED! |
8-----------------------------------------------
9
10WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS?
11-----------------------
12I wanted a free alternative to MIPS/VersaCheck. 'nuff said.
13
14REQUIREMENTS
15------------
16The first thing that you MUST have to be able to use FreeCheck is a
17good Type 1 MICR font. I have created one, called "GnuMICR" that I think
18is pretty excellent - but it has not been well tested. :) There are also
19commercial fonts you can buy, if that floats your boat. See
20www.bizfonts.com, for example.
21
22You must also have either a PostScript printer, or a recent version
23of GhostScript. FreeCheck generates the check as a PostScript file.
24
25Technically, you must also use MICR toner. At a minimum, use a real
26laser printer.
27
28Also, you should use security blank check stock, not just plain
29paper.
30
31INSTALLATION
32------------
33
34 make prefix=/ install
35
36CONFIGURATION
37-------------
38
39On first run the program will copy the system default configuration file to
40your home directory. From there you can edit it with your accounts and any
41custom check styles or layouts.
42
43Edit the file ~/.freecheck.cfg to add your account information, and define
44any new check blanks or styles you want. Take a look at the [Global]
45section, too, to set things up for your system. Pay close attention
46to the MICR line specification instructions. Most configuration instructions
47can be found in this file. If something's too confusing, let me know.
48
49USAGE
50-----
51FreeCheck just prints a PostScript file to STDOUT. That means that you
52must either redirect it to a file, a printer, or a viewer (ggv accepts
53a file on STDIN - I don't think gv does).
54
55So, to print (assuming a PostScript printer, or GhostView filter):
56freecheck.pl <options> | lpr
57
58To view:
59freecheck.pl <options> | ggv
60
61To save a file:
62freecheck.pl <options> > mycheckfile.ps
63
64OPTIONS
65-------
66freecheck doesn't require any options, unless you want it to do something
67useful. By itself, it will print a couple sheets of standard checks
68with a dummy account.
69
70Type "freecheck --help" to see what options are available
71
72For now, if you get tired of typing all those command line options, just
73edit the defaults at the top of the main script.
74
75HOW DOES IT WORK?
76-----------------
77FreeCheck is a Frankenstein-like combination of PostScript and Perl,
78at this point. The guts of the check layout are in PostScript, which
79is embedded at the end of the Perl script. This PostScript depends on
80lots of variable definitions to decide what it should actually print.
81That's where the Perl comes in - reading a config file, and generating
82lots of lines of the type
83 /foo {bar} def
84which define what's shown on the page.
85
86

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