How to Scan and Fax from Your iPhone
The iPhone has a document scanner built into iOS. It's the same one in the Notes app. It finds the edges of a page, straightens it, and flattens it into a clean image. Cheapfax opens that scanner directly. You scan the pages and send them in one go.
Set up the page
The scanner finds the page by contrast. White paper on a dark table works best. A light page on a white desk is hard for it to see.
Light the page from above. A ceiling light or a window works. Keep the flash off. It leaves a bright spot that prints as a blank patch.
Watch for your own shadow. Hold the phone straight above the page, not at an angle. Flatten any folds first. A crease prints as a gray line.
Sign and date everything before you scan.
Scan the pages
Open Cheapfax and tap New fax. Tap Scan with camera. The first time, iOS asks for camera access. Tap Allow.
Hold the phone over the first page. A shaded outline snaps to the paper. Hold still. The scanner captures the page on its own. You can also tap the shutter button.
If a corner is off, drag it to the edge of the paper. Tap Keep Scan.
Put down the next page and repeat. Each page shows up as a thumbnail in the corner. Tap one to retake it. Tap Save after the last page.
The fax keeps the order you scanned in. Scan page one first.
Why the scan looks different in the preview
A fax machine prints in black and white. There are no grays. Cheapfax cleans each scanned page on the phone before it sends. It evens out the lighting and turns the page into pure black and white.
That means the preview shows what the recipient will actually print. Check it. Tap Preview fax in Compose and read each page. Light pencil, yellow highlighter, and pale blue ink can fade out. If something important is too faint, go over it in dark pen and scan again.
Send it
Enter the fax number. A green check mark means it's valid. Add a cover sheet if the office wants one.
Tap Send. The button shows the page count and the price, at 50¢ per page. Credits on your account are used first. The App Store asks you to confirm any purchase.
The status screen follows the fax until it's delivered. Then you get a receipt with the time and page count. If the fax fails, the pages come back as credits automatically.
Two-sided pages
Scan the front. Turn the page over. Scan the back. Each side becomes its own fax page. Skip any blank backs. A blank page still counts as a page.
Do the scans end up in Photos?
No. Scanned pages go straight into the fax. Nothing is saved to your photo library.
Scan or photo?
You can also fax a photo you already took. Pick it with Choose from Photos. A scan usually comes out cleaner. The scanner corrects the angle. A photo doesn't.
