Where can I fax something for free? What is the best way to send a fax for free? We’ll show you how anyone can easily send a fax from any internet-connected computer using PDF.Live’s free trial. 

Faxing may be rare in the modern era, but it’s still considered the standard for sending and receiving documents for certain types of organizations. For example, many healthcare providers fax documents to other healthcare practices, to adhere to certain privacy regulations (HIPAA). Educational institutions and law firms may also require important documents or statements to be faxed. 

However, it’s become less and less common for the average person to have access to a fax machine, whether through their place of work or at home. Also, as you know, a physical fax machine requires a physical version of the document. So, if you don’t have a printer OR a fax machine, you’ve got to head to a retailer that offers both of those services. They’re out there – UPS, FedEx, Office Depot and Staples offer those services, but not for free. This unwieldy process can be mitigated by using a free online fax service that functions entirely in your web browser. A free online fax service allows you to send digital versions of documents that are on your computer to someone else’s fax machine, without having to print them.

Step-by-Step Guide to Online Faxing 

We’ll use PDF.Live’s online fax service to explain how online faxing works. Requirements: The sender must have an internet-connected computer and the receiver must have a fax machine that’s connected to a phone line or a digital account that is set up to receive faxes.

1. Head to the PDF.Live Studio to send faxes online. Click the Fax button. 

Either drag and drop your PDF from your computer into the PDF tool or click Select File to Fax and navigate to where your PDF is stored on your computer. 

2. Upload your PDF to the Fax tool or select a PDF you’ve already stored in the PDF.Live editor to fax.

3. Enter the recipient’s information into the Faxing Options.

PDF.Live’s fax tool will now have you review your faxing options before you send your document. Because faxing is like sending a digital letter, this is where you’re writing out the address information for yourself and the recipient, so we know where to send it. The Send To: Enter Fax Number refers to the phone number that the recipient provided for you to fax to. 

You can also enable the Add Free Custom Cover Letter option to add a fax cover sheet for your document. This ensures that the information contained within won’t be immediately viewable for someone who glances at or picks up the document. It also acts as a cover sheet if your document is more official and helps to make sure the document gets to the intended recipient.

4. Select Send.

For this step, you will need a PDF.Live Limited or Unlimited account. Why do we require you to set up an account? We require an email address to send the confirmation that your fax went through (or, a notification in case it doesn’t go through).

Once you’re signed in, you can click Send to begin transmitting the fax to your recipient.

It will take a couple of minutes to dial and transmit the fax to your recipient, so DO NOT CLOSE the window until the popup signals that your fax is complete. 

When the fax has been successfully received, the popup will change to this:

You will also receive a confirmation email regarding your fax and the document that you sent. If the document couldn’t be sent, you will see an error message like this: 

You will also get an email stating that your fax wasn’t successfully delivered. Be sure to pay attention to this last step to ensure that your fax is properly sent and received! You can use PDF.Live’s services for a limited number of tasks every day, including if you want to try out the fax service. To send more faxes and have unlimited access to other features, you can set up a low-cost monthly subscription. The unlimited plan offers access to editing tools to create, edit, and fax PDFs. You can even add a fax cover sheet using PDF.Live’s online tool.

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So how do you make a fax cover sheet? What does a fax cover sheet look like? This guide will show you how to create a fax cover sheet and enclose it with your faxed document.

Many modern businesses prefer faxing documents as opposed to emailing or sharing them through a cloud storage service. Although this may initially seem inconvenient — and even a bit antiquated in the modern day of digital file transfers — you can actually fax documents online without the need to buy a fax machine or printer. 

When you send a fax, you should always include a fax cover sheet. 

A fax cover sheet, or cover letter, is a page added before your faxed document that provides some key information about you (the sender), the recipient, and the document that you’ve sent. You can think of a fax cover sheet as the envelope that encloses a letter that you want to send through the mail. Just like an envelope, the fax cover sheet also protects the content of the fax. The person who receives the fax can reference their identity with the sender’s identity that you’ve enclosed in the fax cover sheet to ensure they’re the correct recipient.

You don’t have to create a fax cover sheet when faxing a document, but it’s a great way for your fax to appear professional, reach the intended recipient, and stay private. 

So how do you make a fax cover sheet? What does a fax cover sheet look like? This guide will show you how to create a fax cover sheet and enclose it with your faxed document.

What Goes in a Fax Cover Sheet? 

Before, we mentioned how PDF.Live allows you to fax documents online. When doing this, the tool will actually create a fax cover letter for you. That contains all the information necessary for a fax cover sheet. So how do you create a fax cover letter using the PDF.Live online fax tool?

1. Enter the PDF.Live Studio and select the Fax option.

2. Upload your PDF to fax.

Either drag and drop your PDF from your computer into the tool or click the From PDF.Live tab to find a PDF you’ve already uploaded that you want to fax. 

3. Enter your recipient’s information. Check Add Free Custom Cover Letter.

On the left side of the online fax tool, you’ll see two tabs: PDF File and Cover Page. When entering your recipient’s information, PDF.Live has an option to add a free custom cover letter to your PDF. This customer cover letter serves as a fax cover sheet and will contain all the relevant information. 

4. Review your fax cover letter.

Cover Letter Format for Fax

The fax cover letter generated by PDF.Live is generally what a fax cover letter should look like and contain. Your fax cover letter will include:

• The recipient’s phone number
• The sender (your) phone number
• The recipient’s name
• The sender’s name
• The fax document “subject” (think of this as an email subject line!)
• A message to the sender

When you click Send, PDF.Live will enclose this fax cover letter before your faxed document. This makes it easier for the recipient to find out who sent the document and why to get it processed faster. When faxing a document through PDF.Live, no physical versions are necessary – you can fax entirely through your web browser. Clicking Send will immediately send your fax out. It may take a couple of minutes, so refer to our Faxing PDF guide to learn more about how it works.

What to Write on a Fax Cover Sheet

You don’t have to write a personal message on the fax cover sheet, but if you have special requests or instructions, this is where you do it. For example, you might write: “Please email me at myname@email.com to confirm that you received all 11 pages of my fax.”

This space could also be where you put privacy requests, as in: “This fax contains private information that is intended only for the recipient named on this cover sheet.” 

You might also include instructions on why you are sending the fax, if it isn’t obvious: “Hey, Smitty. I picked up this sale brochure from a property for sale near you, and I thought it might be what you’re looking for. Give me a call and we can take a look together!” 

There’s really no need to write a long letter; keep the messages short and to the point.

Printable Fax Cover Letter Form / Template (Free Download)

If you don’t want to make a fax cover letter through PDF.Live, you can use the cover letter provided in the above image as a screenshot. You can also search “Fax cover sheet templates” to find fax cover letter examples. You’ll just need to edit to add your personal information. For example, here is a fax cover sheet template from Microsoft. 

PDF.Live includes a free fax cover sheet within our online faxing tool, but if you prefer to create your own, here is a free PDF template that includes the basics for sending a fax.

Download a free blank fax cover sheet template from PDF.Live. 

If you’re having trouble adding a cover page to the PDF you want to fax, consider using PDF.Live’s Merge Tool to add an extra page or pages to the beginning of your PDF.

The post How to Write a Fax Cover Sheet appeared first on pdf.live.

In this article, we’ll help you assemble your confidentiality notice for PDF documents. We’ll explain a bit about the purpose of a confidentiality statement as well as some examples of how confidentiality statements are used. As a bonus, we’ll explain why you might add a watermark to a PDF for an extra layer of protection!

Before we dive in, though, a disclaimer: We are not legal experts nor are we providing legal advice. A confidentiality statement doesn’t guarantee protection from legal consequences or privacy breaches. Consult with a lawyer or legal professional about sharing confidential information. This article is merely to help you craft a confidentiality statement, understand common elements of them, and give examples you can borrow from. 

Confidentiality Statement Purpose

A confidentiality statement is usually at the back or bottom of a document and has a simple declaration of the confidentiality of the document that it’s attached to. The specific legality will vary based on the nature of the document. In broad terms, a confidentiality statement explains that if the document’s contents are shared without consent, there could be legal consequences. 

A confidentiality statement is more of a statement of intent or ethical reminder rather than a direct, legally binding contract. Confidentiality statements are not substitutes for formal agreements between two parties. If there is a legal dispute as a result of breaking a document’s confidentiality, the confidentiality statement may be able to support a party’s side of the argument. 

There are a few types of potential confidentiality statements:

• Confidentiality agreement: A mutual agreement between two parties to treat the attached information as confidential. This means they cannot share it with outside entities (like other businesses). Usually, both parties share confidential information with each other.
• Non-disclosure statement: Sometimes also called a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), it’s common for one party to create a non-disclosure statement for another specific party to sign so that a document (or other information) is not shared. It can be mutual, but usually it’s created to limit one party from sharing confidential information with another. 
• Confidentiality statement: Confidentiality statements are usually one-way and non-specific. In other words, a confidentiality statement may be included in the document, but not specifically signed by the receiving party (the party that receives the document may not be listed in the NDA). This may be less legally binding and act more as a warning, a statement of intent or request, as in, “Please do not share the information in this PDF.” 

Confidentiality Statement Examples

Confidentiality notice

What is a confidentiality notice? It is text, usually placed at the start of a document (such as a fax) stating that the contents of the document contain confidential information only intended for specific entities listed. The entities could be listed in a fax cover sheet. This notice is a disclaimer rather than a legally binding contract. Here is an example of text that could be in a confidentiality notice:

This communication and any attached documents may contain confidential or privileged information intended solely for the use of the named recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and delete all copies. Unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is strictly prohibited.

Again, before sending sensitive information, it’s important to consult with a legal expert about the enforceability of a unilateral phrase such as “strictly prohibited.”

Business-oriented confidentiality statement 

What is a business confidentiality statement? It’s text that might be designed to protect trade secrets or other confidential business information from falling into the wrong hands. The nature of the information could be financial, intellectual, or something else intended to be secure. Here is an example of a business-oriented confidentiality statement: 

The contents of this document are confidential and proprietary to the sender. By accessing or reviewing this material, you agree not to disclose, copy, or distribute it without prior written consent. If received in error, please notify us and destroy all copies.

We can’t stress this enough — consult with a legal expert before issuing a unilateral “…you agree not to disclose…” statement.

Privacy statement

For personal usage, this is an example of a brief and direct privacy statement that could potentially be used by an individual who is sharing a PDF or faxing private information to another party:

This document contains sensitive information. Unauthorized use or disclosure is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender.

It’s worth repeating: Check with a legal expert about the enforceability of privacy statements.  

Confidentiality in legal context

Potentially used in legal proceedings or with documents related to legal firms, this statement contains context explaining that the attached fax document has legal implications and should not be viewed or shared by an unintended recipient:

This message and any attachments are confidential and may be protected by legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, any review, dissemination, or copying is strictly prohibited. Please contact the sender and delete the message.

This statement suggests that a legal agreement exists prior to sharing information; make sure your legal counsel reviews your processes for sharing confidential information. 

Watermarking Your Document

Watermarks are transparent pieces of text or pictures that provide context about the nature of a document that they’re placed on. Watermarks are easy to create using a PDF editor. We explain more about watermarks, how to make them, and what they’re used for in this article. 

So why might you include a watermark on your confidential document?

Once you’ve included your confidentiality statement and cover sheet, anyone who receives your fax or emailed PDF will immediately see that the document contains sensitive information. In the absence of a confidentiality statement, they may not know that the information that they’re viewing is confidential. A watermark with text saying confidential may alert the recipient that they should not be viewing the document. The watermark might deter someone from making copies and distributing the PDF. 

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