LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Yes, but only after you set the print area, fit the columns to the page, and check the printed result. A spreadsheet faxed straight from the screen often splits columns across pages or shrinks text until numbers are unreadable. Print preview is the step that saves the fax.
A spreadsheet has no natural page. On screen it stretches as far as your columns go, and a fax has to chop that grid into pages. Without print settings, the chop lands wherever the page width ends, which can split a table down the middle of a column or push the totals onto a page of their own. Worse, some programs shrink everything to fit one page, turning a readable sheet into tiny grey numbers that fax resolution cannot reproduce. The recipient then gets pages they cannot read and cannot trust, which is worse than getting nothing, because they may act on a misread figure.
Formulas add a second trap. A fax shows values, not formulas, which is usually what you want. But if a cell shows an error, a date in the wrong format, or a number rounded on screen while the full value sits underneath, the fax preserves the screen version. Check the values, not just the layout, before sending. Freeze panes, filters, and hidden rows do not fax either: hidden rows stay hidden, and a filtered view faxes only the visible rows, which can silently drop data the recipient expects.
Then open print preview and read it as the recipient will. Check the right edge of every page for a cut-off column, and check the last page for a lonely totals row. If a column still will not fit, widen the page by switching to legal size only if the recipient can handle it, or split the sheet deliberately into two labelled parts, for example "Part 1: columns A to F" and "Part 2: columns G to L." A deliberate split is far easier to follow than an accidental one.
| Approach | When it works | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Fit to one page wide | Sheet is only slightly too wide | Text shrinks below readable size |
| Split into labelled parts | Sheet is much wider than a page | Repeat the row labels in each part |
| Send an overview plus detail | Recipient needs totals, not every row | Say clearly that detail follows or is available on request |
| Rotate to sideways | Sheet is wide but not very tall | Header rows still need repeating on later pages |
The overview-plus-detail approach deserves a second look. Many spreadsheet faxes exist because someone needs a total, a balance, or a short list, and the full sheet is just the backup. Fax the overview page first, with the totals and the key rows, and note that the full detail is available if needed. That keeps the fax short, readable, and cheap, and it avoids faxing dozens of rows nobody will read.
Numbers are where faxed spreadsheets fail quietly. A figure like 1,250 can read as 1,250 or 1,280 after fax distortion if the print is small or the original is a photocopy. Use a font size of at least 11 points for numbers that matter, avoid pale grey text, and leave breathing room between columns. Dates need care across the US and Canada: both countries commonly write month-day-year in business use, but a European-style day-month date will confuse a North American reader. Spell out the month for any date that carries a deadline, for example "March 5, 2026" rather than "03/05/2026." Currency is similar: label the currency in the header if the recipient could mistake dollars for another unit, and keep decimal places consistent down each column.
Sometimes a fax is the right tool: the recipient asked for a fax, their system only accepts faxes, or you need a paper trail with a confirmation page. Often, though, a spreadsheet is better sent as a file, where the recipient can sort, filter, and check formulas. If the recipient accepts email, offer the file as well as the fax, and say which one is the record copy. Through LetterAgent, fax is available in testing for US and Canadian numbers, with a per-fax quote and a verified page count before you approve the total. For a spreadsheet with many pages, that page count check is worth doing carefully, since an unadjusted sheet can easily run to twice the pages you expected.
Ready to fax it? Fax with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is sent.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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