Fax quality can range from fairly clear to “fuzzy” or “pixelated,” like you’re looking at a document through foggy glass. You want your faxes as clear as possible, but how can you improve your fax quality? What affects the quality of faxes and how is that quality measured?
This post will take you through what positively and negatively affects fax quality. We’ll also explain fax transmission time, which usually increases based on the quality (and size) of the original. There is also a big difference between faxing a physical document and a digital PDF that we’ll discuss.
Factors That Affect Quality of Fax Transmissions
- Resolution of the document you’re transmitting
The higher the resolution of the document, the better fax quality. If you look at your screen and zoom in very closely, you would notice that it’s made up of a lot of tiny dots. At a distance these pixels form text and images.
Documents are the same. Keep in mind that higher resolution documents may take longer to transmit.
- Quality of the scanner
If you’re scanning a physical document for faxing, the issue may not be with your fax machine, original document, or paper quality, but rather the scan itself. Check the scanner’s settings and adjust the resolution (this varies based on your scanner, so refer to your user manual) if the scan output is low quality.
- Quality of the physical document
Is the physical document smudged? Is the paper low-quality or transparent? Is the paper crooked when it’s being scanned?
The scan and fax of a document are only as good as the quality of the original physical document. Try to get a high-resolution digital version of the doc or a new physical copy if there’s an issue with the quality.
- Connection interruption
When you fax a document, there may be interference, noise, or connection interruptions in the phone line that cause one or more pages of a faxed document to be blurred or unclear.
Try faxing the document again. If you’re using a digital fax service like Fax.Live, check your internet connection to see if the issue persists. More fax troubleshooting tips are here.
- Low ink or toner
For the fax recipient, the issue may not be with the fax itself but rather with the printer that receives the fax. If ink or toner levels are low, it may cause the faxed document to have blank, blurry patches. Check the levels of the printer ink or toner or try a different printer.
- Document compression
If you’ve compressed the document that you want to fax, it may have an impact on the quality, depending on the compression method you’ve used. Try to get an uncompressed version for the best quality fax.
Learn more about lossy vs lossless file compression.
- Color vs black and white
Documents with color contain a lot more information than black and white documents. In a black and white document, each pixel can only be black or white. But with a color document, there are a lot of potential color combinations that have to be transmitted. This can slow transmission time and reduce quality.
Learn more about faxing in color.
A fax isn’t a high-resolution format. Even under perfect conditions — clean document, strong connection, and a good scanner — the result won’t match the clarity of a PDF or printed original. That’s the nature of how faxes work. If the document needs to be razor-sharp, consider an alternative.
Alternatives to Faxing
Faxing isn’t used to transmit high-quality documents or images. The benefits of faxing relate to security, compatibility and convenience with older file management systems that you’ll still see in medical and governmental institutions (See “Why Do People Use Faxes?”).
If the sender or receiver doesn’t require faxing, there are a few other methods that make it easier to transmit high-quality documents or images:
- Scan and email attachments
- File transfer protocol
- Cloud-based file sharing
- File-sharing services
We cover these alternatives to faxing in a separate post.
FAQs About Fax Quality
Why is my fax blurry or hard to read?
If your fax is blurry or hard to read, it’s probably because it’s low resolution. Check your printer’s quality settings (these vary based on manufacturer and model). Also, check with the sender to make sure that the document they transmitted is at a high resolution. There may be an issue with their scanner or the resolution settings on their fax machine.
Can I send a high-resolution fax?
The best way to send a high-resolution fax is using an online fax service like Fax.Live. Rather than printing out a document to scan and fax, Fax.Live accepts PDFs, which usually come through clearer than scanned printouts.
Higher resolution faxes take longer to send. If you need the highest possible quality document or image, look into alternative methods of document sharing.
Why do images look worse when faxed?
Faxed images will often look worse than the original image because of how faxes are transmitted. Fax machines send documents over phone lines, transmitting documents pixel by pixel, line by line. You can learn more about how faxing works here.
Does fax quality depend on the machine or service?
The quality of a fax will be affected by the fax machine or service, especially if there’s an interruption or issue with the phone connection. A scanner will also impact the quality of a fax.
How can I improve the clarity of my faxes?
The best way to improve the clarity of your faxed document is to ensure the original version of your document is clear and without smudges or flaws. If it’s a digital document, check the document resolution. If it’s physical, check your scanner to see if the document is being scanned at a low resolution.
Why do some faxes come through distorted or with lines?
Distortion or lines in a fax usually mean there was an interruption with the phone line when you transmitted your document. To avoid this interference, try a different fax machine or make sure no one else is using the phone line when you fax.
Are online fax services better for quality than traditional fax machines?
Online fax services are far more convenient than a traditional fax machine because they accept digital documents and don’t require you to have a fax machine or phone line for faxing. An online fax service will accept a digital PDF, which is often clearer than a scanned paper document.
Does faxing a document multiple times reduce its quality?
Faxing a document multiple times does not reduce its quality unless you’re repeatedly scanning, printing, and scanning that document. Repeated scans of scanned documents usually reduce document quality.
Can color documents be faxed in high quality?
Yes, color documents can be faxed in higher quality, but this will take longer than grayscale. If you have a fax machine, this means your phone line will be busy for a long time. It’s important to note that the majority of faxes are sent and received in black and white; color faxing is rare — many machines don’t support it. Consider using a fax alternative for sending high quality color documents.
Is there a way to fax photos without losing detail?
If you fax photos, details will be lost in the transmission process due to the nature of faxing. If you want to send and receive a photo, use cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) for the best possible resolution.
ID 23905846 | A Word | Nmarques74 | Dreamstime.com