Fax technology generally uses analog phone lines to send black-and-white images (not compatible with greyscale). Since the nature of fax technology does not support greyscale, when documents are faxed with colors or significant quantities of grey, a fax machine implements the best guess to determine which pixels should be black or white to resemble grey.
However, this may be unreliable and result in difficult-to-read faxes. Common causes:
- Small text or small images
- Grey text on a grey background
- Fine lines or fine details
- Documents rich in color
- Faxes of document scans, scans of scans, or faded documents
Fortunately, if you must send a document that you suspect will be illegible to the receiver, you use the Fax Enhancement tool. The tool works by increasing the contrast and brightness of the text to potentially improve the legibility of the text.
To use the fax enhancement tool, open up any new fax page. This can be found within your patient's documents, the message center, or new referral pages.
Example (Patient Documents):
When you click the Fax button on any page, the Fax Document prompt will appear. In this prompt, there will be an 'Enhance Image' checkbox. By checking this check box, your fax will have increased contrast and brightness when sent.
