Patent ID: 7435023

Claim:
A printing apparatus for printing on a print medium, comprising: (a) a transportation mechanism for transporting the print medium along one of a plurality of transportation paths including a first transportation path; (b) a magnetic ink character reader for reading magnetic ink characters on the print medium; (c) a scanner for capturing an image of the print medium during transportation of the print medium on a selected transportation path; (d) a print head for printing on the print medium according to a result from said magnetic ink character reader and/or said scanner; and (e) a processor or computer responsive to an output from said magnetic ink character reader and/or said scanner for determining if the first transportation path is to be selected or if a different one of the plurality of transportation paths is to be selected before scanning the image of the print medium or printing on the print medium and for making the selection of which transportation path is to be used for transporting the print medium.