Fax formatting basics
If you want your fax messages to receive a positive reception, follow these basic guidelines:
1. Avoid heavy, dark graphics on a fax. In addition to doubling transmission time, recipients who have an inkjet fax may get a page that is moist from the heavy application of ink.
2. In addition to the cover form, format your fax message in either the standard business latter or memo form.
3. Use a simple, legible type for you fax messages. Helvetica, times New Roman, and courier all transmit very clearly.
4. Avoid handwritten notes. Text written with a pen or pencil often does not fax well.
5. Make the type at least 11 or 12 points in size.
6. To double – check the appearance of your fax correspondence, run the original through your fax machine using copy mode. The document the recipient gets will look like this copy.
7. Before we move on, here is one caveat about faxing: in – trays by fax machines are rapidly becoming as cluttered as in – baskets or regular mailboxes. Communicating via fax does not assure the reader’s undivided attention.