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How to Send and Receive a Fax with Impact ColorFax

This tutorial is designed to show you how to send and receive faxes with the ColorFax software.  Please select a link below to learn more.

Sending a fax:

  1. Open a COM port
  2. Preparing a document for faxing
  3. Faxing an existing document
  4. Faxing a new document

Receiving a fax

  1. Make sure the program is running

  2. Open a COM port

Sending a fax:

Open a COM Port

  1. The first step in sending a fax is to make sure that you have a modem installed on your computer and that you have a “COM" port open to fax through.  COM port is short for communication port and is the pipeline used by the modem to transmit and receive faxes.  Open up the ColorFax software and select the “Fax" menu item and select “Open Modem Com Port…"  The following dialog box will appear:

Here you can see COM1 and COM2.  This means that there are two COM ports.  It is normal for a computer to have several COM ports.  You need to identify which COM port your modem is installed on.  You can do this by clicking on the name of the COM port and pressing the “Test Modem" button.  ColorFax will check the COM port for a modem and return the result of the test in the Modem Test section of the dialog box.  Please see the screen shot below:

Click on the name of the COM port that has the modem attached and click “Open".  The COM port is now open and ready for faxing.  Please note: As you can see above, in the “Open Mode" field, you can set the COM port as Auto or Manual.  This setting is very important.  If the “Set as Auto" option is selected, the COM port will be opened up automatically every time ColorFax is started.  You simply open the program and you are ready to fax.  If the “Set as Manual" option is selected, the COM port will not open up when ColorFax is started.  You will have to go into the menu and open it manually.  You will not be able to send a fax until the COM port is opened.  For ease of use, it is recommended that the port be “Set as Auto".  Other settings are available; however it is recommended that the manual is carefully reviewed before any of the settings are changed.  Changing the settings may result in transmission errors or the inability to fax.

Preparing a document for faxing:

The next step is to prepare a document for faxing.  In order to fax a document, it must be a TIFF file.  TIFF is short for Tag Image File Format and the worldwide standard for faxing.  You can use an existing TIFF document or create your own.  A TIFF file will have an extension of ".tif".   For example: myfax.tif.  You can create your own document by scanning in the document and saving it as a TIFF or you can use the built in printer driver in the ColorFax application.  Select the "File" menu item and select "Print".  Scroll through the list of printers and highlight "Impact ColorFax".  Please see the screen shot below:

Faxing an existing document:

1.   First select the “Fax" menu.  At the bottom of the menu items you will either see “Hide Fax Manager" or “Show Fax Manager".  Toggle the item so that you see “Hide Fax Manager".  As a result, you have enabled the Fax Manager.  The Fax Manager is a window that pops up when a fax is sent and gives the real time status of the fax transmission.  As a result, you can monitor the status of the fax transmission.

2.   Now select the “File" menu item and select “Open Image…".  Scroll through the directory and click on the name of the document you want to open and press OK.

3.   The image will be opened up and displayed in the ColorFax application.

4.   Select “Fax" menu item and select “Send Image".  The following dialog box will appear:

 

Enter the number in manually using the keypad, the fax number field or click on a name in the phonebook.  Press the “Send" button to start the transmission.  When the transmission starts, the Fax Manager window will appear.  If you do not see the Fax Manager please repeat step one.  Please see the screen shot below:

The Fax Manager window shows the fax number of the transmission and the status of the transmission. 

  1. To send another fax, repeat steps 2-4.

Faxing a new document :

1.   First select the “Fax" menu.  At the bottom of the menu items you will either see “Hide Fax Manager" or “Show Fax Manager".  Toggle the item so that you “Hide Fax Manager" is displayed.  As a result, you have enabled the Fax Manager.  The Fax Manager is a window that pops up when a fax is sent and gives the real time status of the fax transmission.  As a result, you can monitor the transmission.

2.   Now select the “File" menu item and select “Open Image…".  Scroll through the directory and click on the name of the document you want to open and press OK.

3.   The image will be opened up and displayed in the ColorFax application.

4.   Select “Fax" menu item and select “Send Image".  The following dialog box will appear:

 

 

Enter the number in manually using the keypad, the fax number field or click on a name in the phonebook.  Press the “Send" button to start the transmission.  When the transmission starts, the Fax Manager window will appear.  If you do not see the Fax Manager please repeat step one.  Please see the screen shot below:

The Fax Manager window shows the fax number of the transmission and the status of the transmission. 

  1. To send another fax, repeat steps 2-4.

Receiving a Fax

  Impact ColorFax will receive a fax if the parameters below are met.

Important: Impact ColorFax must be running in order to receive a fax.

Please note:
The "Receive" menu item under the "Fax" menu is not used and should be disregarded.

Make sure the program is running:

  1. Your computer must be turned on and Impact ColorFax has to be running in order to receive a fax.  You can minimize the program and keep it running in the background while you are doing other things.

Open a COM Port:

  1. To receive a fax there must be a modem installed on your computer and you  have to have an open  “COM" port to receive the fax through.  COM port is short for communication port and is the pipeline used by the modem to transmit and receive faxes.  Open up the ColorFax software and select the “Fax" menu item and select “Open Modem Com Port…"  The following dialog box will appear:

Here you can see COM1 and COM2.  This means that there are two available COM ports.  It is normal for a computer to have several COM ports.  You need to identify which COM port your modem is installed on.  You can do this by clicking on the name of the COM port and pressing the “Test Modem" button.  ColorFax will check the COM port for a modem and return the result of the test in the Modem Test section of the dialog box.  Please see the screen shot below:

As you can see above, there is a modem connected to COM1.  If no modem is detected the following message will be returned.

Click on the name of the COM port that has the modem attached and click “Open".  The COM port is now open and is ready to receive a fax.  Please note: As you can see above, in the “Open Mode" field, you can set the COM port as Auto or Manual.  This setting is very important.  If the “Set as Auto" option is selected, the COM port will be opened up automatically every time ColorFax is started.  The applications cam simply be opened and you are ready to receive a fax.  If the “Set as Manual" option is selected, the COM port will not open up when ColorFax is started.  You will have to go into the menu and open it manually.  You will not be able to receive a fax until the COM port is opened.  For ease of use, it is recommended that the port be “Set as Auto".  Other settings are available; however it is recommended that the manual is carefully reviewed before any of the settings are changed.  Changing the settings may result in transmission errors or the inability to fax.

  1. You are now ready to receive faxes