LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Yes. A Word document faxes well once it is printed or converted to a fixed page layout, because fax machines send pages as images, not editable text. Check page breaks, font size, and dark print before sending, and keep a copy of the exact version faxed.
There are two routes. With a physical machine, you print the document and feed the paper pages. With an online fax service, you upload the file and the service renders each page as an image for transmission. Either way, the recipient gets a picture of your pages, not a file they can edit. That distinction matters: tracked changes, comments, and hidden text do not survive in a useful form, and formatting can shift if the file is opened on a computer with different fonts. Always send a final version, with changes accepted and comments removed, and check the rendered pages before you send if your service shows a preview.
Converting to PDF first is the safest habit for the online route. A PDF locks page breaks, fonts, and spacing in place, so the fax looks the same regardless of who opens the file. Word files can reflow when fonts are missing, which can push a signature line onto a new page or split a table. If you must send the Word file itself, stick to common fonts and standard page sizes, and avoid exotic formatting that depends on a specific printer driver.
Bold headings, plain tables, and standard body text survive well. Fine detail does not. Light grey text, small footnotes, shaded boxes, and thin lines often wash out or turn blotchy in fax resolution, which is far coarser than a printed page. Colour is another casualty: most fax transmission is black and white, so colour coding, coloured highlights, and red "urgent" marks arrive as shades of grey, if they show at all. If colour carries meaning in your document, say so in words as well, for example by writing "see section 3, marked urgent" rather than relying on a red highlight.
| Element | Faxes well? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Body text, 11 point or larger | Yes | Use dark black text on white paper |
| Bold headings and simple tables | Yes | Keep table borders clear and rows uncrowded |
| Footnotes and fine print under 9 point | Poorly | Enlarge key fine print or move it into the body |
| Colour highlights and shading | Poorly | Replace colour meaning with words or bold labels |
| Tracked changes and comments | No | Accept all changes and delete comments first |
| Photos and detailed graphics | Poorly | Send only if the detail is not essential, or send a clearer copy separately |
Word flows text across pages based on your printer settings, so the page count you see on screen can differ from the printed count. That matters twice: first, because a fax quote is based on page count, and second, because a paragraph split across a page break reads awkwardly on a fax, where the recipient cannot reflow anything. Turn on page-break preview or print preview, and scan the last line of each page. Insert a manual page break before a heading that would otherwise sit alone at the bottom of a page, and before a signature block. A signature orphaned on its own page looks like a mistake and can raise questions about whether pages are missing.
Keep the exact version you faxed, as a PDF or a printed copy, with the confirmation page attached. If the recipient later disputes a clause or a figure, you want to show precisely what left your hands, not a later edit of the same file. This is especially true for forms, agreements, and letters where wording matters.
LetterAgent fax is available in testing for US and Canadian numbers. You describe the fax to your AI assistant, the per-fax quote verifies the page count, you approve the exact total, and you pay once through Stripe before it is sent. No inbound faxes are offered. Because fax is still in testing, treat timing as unconfirmed for anything with a hard deadline, and keep your own copy of the document and the confirmation. For a document that must arrive by a fixed hour, send early enough that a resend is possible if the first attempt fails.
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.
Need help? Ask your assistant: it can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com