Chapter 35

Faxing and Scanning

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using Windows Fax and Scan

Setting up a fax account

Sending and receiving faxes

Scanning documents

Fax machines have been around for a long time, and it’s a safe bet that you have at least a basic understanding of how faxing works, at least in the context of paper faxes. Essentially, you scan a document, and the fax machine sends it to a recipient’s fax machine, which then prints the fax.

There isn’t as much reason to use faxes in today’s world. If the item you want to send someone is a file, it’s much easier to send an e-mail message to the recipient with a copy of the file attached. It doesn’t matter what program you use for e-mail. They all allow you to attach files to messages.

On the other hand, if the person to whom you’re sending a file doesn’t have an e-mail account or can’t accept attachments by e-mail, then fax might be your best alternative. You have the added benefit in Windows 8 of faxing right from your applications, with no need to print the document and scan it through a fax machine.