Xerox 6180N Generic MICR Fundamentals Guide  - Page 32

Paper facts Grain direction Paper properties are related to the grain direction. The grain of a paper is the direction in which most of its fibers lie, as shown in the following figure. Long grain papers are cut so that the fibers are aligned with the long dimension of the cut sheet. Short grain papers have the fibers aligned with the short dimension of the sheet. You can use 24 pound paper in either grain direction. If your paper is lighter than 24 pound, use it only for documents in which the grain is in the long dimension of the finished document. For long grain MICR-processed documents, the minimum paper weight is 20 pounds. NOTE: 24 pound, long grain paper is recommended for MICR printing. Pulp fibers Long grain sheet cut from paper web Short grain sheet cut from paper web Paper web - made during paper making process Paper making process direction Figure 3-1. Long and short grain The following figure shows the relationship between long and short grain documents and the MICR processing direction. The shaded areas represent typical documents that would be cut from these sheets for MICR processing. 3-4 Generic MICR Fundamentals Guide