SCANNING

FAXING

Find Where Word Hides the Fax Command

The Annoyance:

Okay, so how do I send a fax? It's not as if Word has a "Fax This Document" command anywhereleastways, not that I can see. I've even looked in the Customize dialog box.

The Fix:

About 99 out of 100 people would agree with you that Word's faxing could be easier. Windows itself, and most Windows applications, considers sending a fax to be a form of printing: instead of sending the document to a printer, you send it to a fax, which "prints" it across the wires to the recipient's fax. Intuitive, huh? Better yet, the fax components may not be installed on your PC yet, so you may need to set them up.

Here's how to fix faxing:

  1. Make sure there's a fax modem installed on your PC. If your PC is halfway modern, it'll have one already. Otherwise, plug in a USB or serial-port fax modem (or a PC Card fax modem if you're using a notebook PC).

  2. Install Fax Services if they're not already installed. Insert your Windows XP CD in an optical drive, choose Start Control Panel Printers and Other Hardware Printers and Faxes, and click the Set Up Faxing link in the Printer Tasks list. Follow the resulting wizard to install Fax Services.

  3. All Programs Accessories Communications Fax Fax Console to run the Fax Configuration Wizard. Work your way through the wizard, specifying your name , fax number, phone numbers , email address, and so on, and designating the fax device to use (your fax modem). Choose whether to receive faxes and (if so) whether to store incoming faxes, print them, or send them to an email address.
  4. Print, and select the appropriate fax item in the Name drop-down list. If you need to change the resolution of the fax, click the Properties button and work on the Fax Performs tab of the Fax Properties dialog box. Otherwise, verify that the page range, number of copies, and so on are correct, and then click the OK button. Word "prints the document to the fax and starts the Send Fax Wizard, which walks you through the process of specifying the recipient, adding a cover page (if needed), and deciding when to send the fax and what priority to assign it. You can preview the fax to double-check that it is correct before you transmit it.

Tip: If you don't have a fax modem, one alternative is to use an Internet fax service such as eFax (http://www.efax.com) or Fax1.com (http://www.fax1.com).

Get a Fax into a Word Document

The Annoyance:

My computer is receiving faxes just fine. In fact, my boss has just sent through a three-page report from Toledo. I'm impressed by his faith that I can somehow magically put the fax into a Word document in time for the big meeting in 10 minutes, but I don't share that faith.

The Fix:

It can be awkward when the real world intrudes on a belief system.

Anyway, the brief answer to your problem is to ask your boss to resend the document in some other form, pronto. Any other method of transferring the text is preferable. If your boss can send you a fax, he can surely send the text as an attachment to a message from his Hotmail account, can't he? If an attachment is beyond him, have him lump the text into the body of an email message. Fixing the line breaks and stripping out Hotmail's ludicrous attempts at formatting will be preferable to retyping it.

Still, if you're stuck with a fax, you can try either of two tacks:

  • Try OCR on the fax. If it's not too grubby, you should be able to get most of the text. You'll need to check it and correct any errors, but that's better than retyping it. See the next Annoyance, "Scan and OCR a Document," for details.

  • If the fax is clean enough, or if you must use it as is in your document, insert each page as a graphic and crop off the transmission data at the top and bottom. The resolution will be low, and your mileage will vary, but it's worth a try. If you're going to print the document, you can use Word's cropping feature. If you're going to distribute it in electronic form and you don't want others to be able to see the cropped areas, use a graphics application to crop the fax before inserting it in the Word documengt.



Word Annoyances
Word Annoyances: How to Fix the Most ANNOYING Things about Your Favorite Word Processor
ISBN: 0596009542
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 91

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