Fax Basics

Summary:

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The following information describes how to send a Fax under Linux Mandrake 7.1. It assumes that the package "efax" is installed (efax-0.9-5mdk was used).

The first step is to customize the file '/etc/fax.config' for your local setup. Below is a portion of the file on my machine. Because I have a symbolic link named "modem" ('/dev/modem' ––> '/dev/ttyS0') that points to my modem,

DEV

FROM

NAME

# The device to which the fax modem is connected<br> ~# (e.g. ttya for /dev/ttya). Use a dial-out (cua)<br> ~# device if available. If there are links to this<br> ~# device then all programs must use same<br> ~# name or the UUCP locking mechanism will fail.<br> ~# For example, if /dev/modem is a link to<br> ~# /dev/cua1, then getty, uucp, kermit, pppd,<br> ~# dip, etc. must *all* use either /dev/modem or<br> ~# /dev/cua1.<br> <br> DEV=modem<br> <br> ~# Your fax number in international format, 20 characters maximum.<br> ~# Use only digits, spaces, and the "+" character.<br> <br> FROM="+0 555 555 5555"<br> <br> ~# Your name as it should appear on the page header.<br> <br> NAME="Cornelius Brinegar"

The most basic way to send a fax is to create your fax document as a postscript file and type the following in a terminal:

fax send 555-5555 filename.ps

Replace 555-5555 with the phone number of your choice (even long distance numbers work) and filename.ps with the desired filename.

An obvious problem exists if one scans several pages of a document for faxing generating a series of gray scale images. The way I dealt with this case was to use GIMP to save the images in a postscript format with the names file.ps.001, file.ps.002, etc. The fax command then can simply be:

fax send 555-5555 file.ps.*

One can also use the "convert" utility from the ~ImageMagick package to create postscript files from many image formats.

The fax can be previewed on the screen while running X by using the following commands:

fax make filename.ps<br> fax view filename.ps.*

The first command creates a new file for each page of the fax, and the second command will allow you to view each page. I changed the '/etc/fax.config' file so that 'xv' would be used to show the fax preview.
Below is the corresponding section in the '/etc/fax.config' file:

# The command to view a Portable Gray Map (PGM)<br> ~# image from the standard input. Typically "xv -"<br> ~# or "xloadimage stdin".<br> <br> ~#VIEWCMD="xloadimage stdin" # best<br> ~#VIEWCMD="xloadimage stdin" # best<br> ~# VIEWCMD="pnmtoxwd | xwud" # slower alternative<br> VIEWCMD="xv -" # much slower alternative

ML user Keith Hooper adds:

To create a fax, use the ~WordPerfect 8 download version that anyone and their brother can get has a great postscript filter. Just create a file and save it in .ps format and then go to the terminal and run fax with that file. It also works great with the graphic insert feature. I downloaded a TUX graphic from Linuxcentral and imported it onto my new cover sheet. Though it would be nice to get it to print right to the fax, one extra step isn't a big deal, but this way newbies don't have to worry about fax make or more complicated conversions. In ~WordPerfect is just a simple 'save as'.

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Related Resources:

man efax

Revision / Modified: June 21, 2001 / Nov 16, 2000
Author: Cornelius Brinegar

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