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Ever
tried using a Fax Machine - they are archaic. Today I was forced to send a fax
(read: to lazy to walk to the post office) so I made sure the ink was dry and
the thing was plugged into the wall. I feed it (one sheet at a time) and nothing
happens, call Mr. Alden (the elder) he yells at it for a bit, tells me he hasn’t
used it for months and continues to force - a now rather crumpled US Visa form -
into the feeder. I head for the Mac; remembering sending and receiving faxes
under OS 9 was simple-icious, so OS X must have some blatantly beautiful way of
sending my form pronto… the post office closed at 12:30 we’ve been bashing the
‘box’ for about an hour by now.The
following is a short explanation on the subject of OS X and faxes (Read
On)

First off I scanned the document I wanted to scan
- you can skip this part if your sending something you’ve created on the Mac,
say an Ad that has to go to copy on Monday morning (Callum quickly launches iCal
and notes he has work to do) - so launch your scanner’s app, HP have provided an
unsupported 10.2 Scanning Wizard that works now and then so… You want to make
a PDF if possible, but if that’s not an option (or your only sending 1 sheet)
just JPG it.Launch ANY application on
OS X and click “Print”. In the bottom row of options click
“Fax…”.Type in the fax number, and
if required the number you must dial to access and outside line. Click “Fax”.
You’ll notice there are options for you crazy non-default-ers you can add a
cover page, or edit quality and all that jazz. For me, it was a two click
operation… I could have used that Tab Key - but I felt like putting the effort
in.n.b.If
your trying to fax two sheets, you’ll notice Preview will not allow you to fax 2
seperate jpgs - hence saving as a 2 page PDF (using HP’s scanning software with
the “add another page” option works for me). You can make PDFs with Word or
Pages… or just send 2 separate Faxes - but its pricey.