ISO 1004-2:2013

Information processing — Magnetic ink character recognition — Part 2: Print specifications for CMC7

ISO 1004-2:2013 specifies the shapes, dimensions and tolerances for the 10 digits 0 to 9, five symbols, and 26 letters, to be printed with magnetic ink for the purpose of character recognition. It describes the various types of printing defects and other printing considerations, together with the tolerances permitted, and also contains specifications to signal level measurement.

Traitement de l'information — Reconnaissance des caractères à encre magnétique — Partie 2: Spécifications d'impression CMC7

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 26-May-2013
• ICS: 35.240.40 - IT applications in banking
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 68/SC 9 - Information exchange for financial services
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 68/SC 9 - Information exchange for financial services
• Current Stage: 9093 - International Standard confirmed
• Completion Date: 31-Oct-2018

Relations

• Consolidated By: ISO 25239-3:2020 - Friction stir welding — Aluminium — Part 3: Qualification of welding operators
• Effective Date: 06-Jun-2022

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 1004-2
First edition
2013-06-01
Information processing — Magnetic
ink character recognition —
Part 2:
Print specifications for CMC7
Traitement de l’information — Reconnaissance des caractères à
encre magnétique —
Partie 2: Spécifications d’impression CMC7
Reference number
ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
ISO 2013
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ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO 2013

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior

written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of

the requester.
ISO copyright office
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Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
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Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO 2013 – All rights reserved
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ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
Contents Page

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iv

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 1

3.1 Terms and definitions ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3.2 Symbols and abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................................... 2

4 Character configuration ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

4.1 Code description .................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

4.2 Configuration ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

5 Means of automatic sensing ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4

6 Reference edges of documents .............................................................................................................................................................. 4

7 Print location............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

7.1 Horizontal location .............................................................................................................................................................................. 4

7.2 Vertical location...................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

8 Clear band .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

9 Character spacing and alignment ....................................................................................................................................................... 5

9.1 Horizontal character spacing...................................................................................................................................................... 5

9.2 Vertical misalignment ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5

10 Character definition and tolerances ................................................................................................................................................ 5

10.1 Definitions ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

10.2 Stroke edge zones and mean edges ....................................................................................................................................... 6

10.3 Skew angle α ...............................................................................................................................................................................................6

10.4 Stroke width L ...........................................................................................................................................................................................6

10.5 Stroke interval P ......................................................................................................................................................................................6

11 Extraneous ink (spots) ................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

11.1 Extraneous ink front .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7

11.2 Extraneous ink back ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7

12 Voids .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

13 Segment end zones ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

14 Uniformity of ink .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

15 Debossment ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

16 Signal level .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

16.1 Description of the signal ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

16.2 Definitions relating to signal level .......................................................................................................................................... 8

16.3 Allowable signal level range ........................................................................................................................................................ 8

16.4 Nominal signal level ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9

16.5 Residual signal level ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9

17 Paper ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9

18 MICR ink permanence ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

19 Drawings of the printed characters of Font CMC 7 .........................................................................................................10

Annex A (informative) Use of CMC7 Symbols ............................................................................................................................................32

© ISO 2013 – All rights reserved iii
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ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards

bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out

through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical

committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International

organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.

ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of

electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are

described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the

different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the

editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2. www.iso.org/directives

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of

patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of

any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or

on the ISO list of patent declarations received. www.iso.org/patents

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not

constitute an endorsement.

The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 68, Financial services, Subcommittee SC 7,

Core banking.

This first edition of ISO 1004-2, together with ISO 1004-1, cancels and replaces ISO 1004:1995, which

has been technically revised.

ISO 1004 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information processing — Magnetic ink

character recognition:
— Part 1: Print specifications for E13B
— Part 2: Print specifications for CMC7
Annex A is for information only.
iv © ISO 2013 – All rights reserved
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
Information processing — Magnetic ink character
recognition —
Part 2:
Print specifications for CMC7
1 Scope

This part of ISO 1004 specifies the shapes, dimensions and tolerances for the 10 digits 0 to 9, five symbols,

and 26 letters, to be printed with magnetic ink for the purpose of character recognition. It describes

the various types of printing defects and other printing considerations, together with the tolerances

permitted, and also contains specifications to signal level measurement.

The characters specified in Clause 4 of this part of ISO 1004 were developed initially for use in banks

to permit automatic document handling for bank data processing, but they have application to other

automatic processing systems as well.
2 Normative references

The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are

indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated

references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.”

ISO 1004-1:2013, Information processing — Magnetic ink character recognition — Part 1: Print

specifications for E13B
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1.1
magnetic ink
ink capable of being magnetized and sensed
3.1.2
vertical misalignment

deviation of the printed character from the nominal vertical position on the document

3.1.3
void

absence of magnetic ink outside the printed edge zone and outside the segment end zones in an area that

should be inked
3.1.4
segment end zones

zone of maximum height of 0,22 mm that can be located at both ends of strokes and stroke segments

3.1.5
residual signal level
maximum signal level delivered by a character which has been voided
© ISO 2013 – All rights reserved 1
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ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
3.2 Symbols and abbreviations
Corresponding
Symbol or
clause or Characteristic
abbreviation
subclause
A 9.1.4 Character width
A 9.1.4 Character width of a character with one long interval
A 9.1.4 Character width of a character with two long intervals
A 9.1.4 Character width of a character with three long intervals
A 9 Alignment
b 10.2.1 Printed edge zone width
B 9.1.1 Character pitch
CB 8 Clear band
D 9.1.2 Intercharacter distance
D 9.1.1 Minimum interchange distance
Minimum interchange distance for character with one or two long inter-
D 9.1.3
vals
D 9.1.3 Minimum interchange distance for character with three long intervals
DM 15 Debossment
ExB 11.2 Extraneous ink back
ExF 11.1 Extraneous ink front
FT 18 Format
h 10.1.2 Segment height
H 10.1.4 Character height
H 10.1.5 Font height
L 10.4 Stroke width
M 10.1.3 Stroke height
P 10.5 Stroke interval
P 10.5.2 Short stroke interval between left mean edges
P 10.5.2 Long stroke interval between right mean edges
P 10.5.1 Short stroke interval between right mean edges
P 10.5.1 Long stroke interval between right mean edges
SP 9 Character spacing
UI 14 Uniformity of ink
V 12 Voids
2 © ISO 2013 – All rights reserved
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ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
Corresponding
Symbol or
clause or Characteristic
abbreviation
subclause
VM 9.2 Vertical misalignment
α 10.3 Character skew angle
4 Character configuration
4.1 Code description

The coded character is composed of six intervals contained within seven strokes cut to the shape of a

conventional character.

Two interval widths are used: “long” and “short”. It is the combination of these “long” and “short”

intervals that determines the character code.

Two long and four short intervals may be combined in 15 possible ways (C ) – a total which is available

for the 10 digits and five symbols.
6 6

The alphabetic code uses one or three long intervals, allowing a total of C + C = 26 combinations

1 3
which are thus available for 26 letters.

Table1 shows the correspondence between codes and the characters. The intervals are numbered 1 to 6

from left to right on the printed character. Their values are represented by the digit 0 for short intervals

and by the digit 1 for long intervals.
4.2 Configuration

There are four font heights (see 10.1.5): 3,20 mm, 3,00 mm, 2,85 mm and 2,70 mm. Figures 3 to 23 give

full details of the alphanumeric character set and symbols.
Table 1 — Character code description (0 = short interval. 1 = long interval)
Interval pattern Interval pattern
Coded Coded
character character
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 A
0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 B
1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 C
1 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 D
0 0 0 1 1 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 E
0 0 1 0 1 0 6 0 0 1 0 1 1 F
1 1 0 0 0 0 7 1 0 0 0 1 1 G
0 1 0 0 1 0 8 1 0 1 1 0 0 H
0 1 0 1 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 I
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 J
1 0 0 0 0 1 S I 0 1 1 0 1 0 K
0 1 0 0 0 1 S II 0 1 0 0 1 1 L
0 0 1 0 0 1 S III 0 0 1 1 1 0 M
0 0 0 1 0 1 S IV 0 0 1 0 0 0 N
0 0 0 0 1 1 S V 1 0 0 0 0 0 O
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ISO 1004-2:2013(E)
Table 1 (continued)
Interval pattern Interval pattern
Coded Coded
character character
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 0 1 1 0 P
1 1 1 0 0 0 Q
0 1 1 1 0 0 R
0 1 0 1 0 1 S
0 0 0 0 1 0 T
1 1 0 1 0 0 U
1 1 0 0 0 1 V
1 0 0 1 0 1 W
1 1 0 0 1 0 X
0 1 1 0 0 1 Y
0 0 1 1 0 1 Z
5 Means of automatic sensing

The automatic character recognition takes place by means of identification of the interval lengths

between adjacent strokes. Stroke sensing takes place magnetically.
6 Reference edges of documents

For the purpose of measuring the printed image, the right-hand and the bottom edges are the reference

edges of the document.
7 Print location
7.1 Horizontal location
The extreme right mean ed
...