Digital Photography Hacks

Fax from Your Digital Camera

When a fax machine isn’t handy but your digital camera is, you can still sign and return documents as if by fax magic.

Paper isn’t going away, though there are days when I wish it would. A great example of such a time is when I receive a document in the mail that requires my signature and an immediate return fax. The signature part isn’t usually a problem. But I often don’t have a fax machine available. Fortunately, I always have my digital camera, which I can use to solve this problem.

Here’s the basic procedure:

1. Sign the document.

2. Place it under an even light source and photograph it with a digital camera.

3. Upload the picture to your computer and open it in Photoshop.

4. Crop the image to standard document size.

5. Save the file as a PDF.

6. Attach the file to an email, with instructions on how to open and print it.

Once you get the hang of how to do this, your “digital-camera faxes” can actually look better than the output from half of the business fax machines being used today. But there are a few tricks you’ll need to use along the way.

Photographing the Document

You want an accurate reproduction of the original document. With this technique, you’ll be amazed at how good your “fax” will look. Follow this procedure to capture the image:

1. Place the document under an even light source, such as next to a north-facing window or beneath a desk lamp.

2. Put your digital camera in Close Up or Macro mode (look for the flower icon).

3. Adjust the white balance. If your camera has a