Faxing With a Mac

A few days ago, I received a contract which I had to sign and then return back via fax. Unfortunately I didn’t have a fax machine to do this the traditional way, but I recalled my dad sending a fax with our PC many years back through the internal modem. My iBook had an internal modem, and sure enough I found out that Apple built features into OSX which allow you to fax whatever documents which you can print, provided your Mac has an internal modem, or you have the USB modem which you will need for the Intel-era machines.

PDFs are the common denominator

My scenario yesterday required me to fax two hard copy documents which were signed by myself and my witness. This required scanning the document, so if you don’t need to scan anything or if you already have your document in PDF format, feel free to skip this section.

When I scanned in my documents, I used my scanner the PC which saved it in PNG format. To continue, we’ll need to convert this to a PDF in order to make the fax as organized as possible or else it can possibly turn out out of order on the receiving end.

To convert something to a PDF, try to print the document. In the print dialog, you should see a PDF button like the one below:

As shown in the screenshot, the option you’ll want to go with is Save as PDF. Save the PDF in a location you’ll remember and all in one directory.

One fax is better than multiple faxes

Next, we’ll want to merge multiple documents into one so that the receiving end doesn’t end up with a bunch of unordered faxes which may even be interrupted by another incoming one. Since I scanned in two documents, I still ended up with two PDF files after converting them. If you have a multi-page PDF that is ready for faxing, feel free to skip this step.

To merge PDFs, I used Automator. Below I’ve included an Automator action which I’ve already made. Upon running it, it will ask for the PDF files you’d like to merge. Select the files (Note: You will only be able to select multiple files from one directory. If they are scattered, move them into one directory) and it will open up the merged PDF in Preview.

Once the merged PDF opens in Preview be sure not to close it, you can choose to save it, but if you’re not a pack rat, move onto the next step.

Let’s fax that PDF in a few clicks

Now it’s time to fax this puppy! With your PDF open in Preview, proceed as if you were going to print it. In the print dialog, you should see that same PDF button from step 1. Click on it and you should see the option to Fax the PDF from the contextual menu:

Next you will see the dialog to configure your settings for faxing:

Here’s a breakdown of what these fields are:

• To: Enter the fax number you are sending to here (without area code)
• Dialing Prefix: Enter the area code of the corresponding fax number here
• Modem: Select your dial-up modem. Pre Intel-era Macs should have internal modems built in.
• Presets: If you want to save/load your settings for this dialog…
• Fax Cover Page – This section will send a cover page preceding your fax. It’s a good idea to send a cover page to help separate your fax from other incoming faxes.

Once you’re done filling out those fields, plug your Mac into a telephone jack, click Fax, and you’re done!