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After the software has been installed, a virtual VENTAFAX printer is
added to the system. VENTAFAX printer is a tool for generating facsimile
documents ready to be sent by the VentaFax software package (by fax
modem or e-mail). Printing to a VENTAFAX printer generates a graphics
file in TIFF format.
The VENTAFAX printer generates color faxes (24 bits per pixel) as well
as black-and-white faxes (1 bit per pixel). Black-and-white faxes have
two resolution options (200*200 or 200*100 dpi). Color faxes can only
be generated with a 200*200 dpi resolution.
The final appearance of the faxes you generate depends on the printer
settings. Let's review these settings in detail:
Color printing mode (to access it, from
the Windows Taskbar select Start - Settings - Printers - VentaFax
- Properties - Printing options - More).
Monochrome. Generates black-and-white faxes. Color
graphics contained in the image document will be converted to black-and-white
graphics by applying 'halftone conversion', which uses special palette
patterns. These patterns are set by the Halftone rendering setting.
In the actual fax, color graphics may be displayed with a visible regular
grid pattern. As a rule, text is displayed in black, irrespective of
its color. However, some programs (Adobe Reader, for example) render
color text the same way as they do color graphics, by using palette
patterns.
Photographic halftones. Generates black-and-white faxes.
To render the halftones, an area is filled with black-and-white dots
in a pseudo-random manner. This option is well-suited for situations
when it is necessary to accurately transmit images contained in a document.
This algorithm is applied to the entire document, that is, color symbols
will also be composed of black-and-white dots (they won't all be black
as in the Monochrome option). The size of the generated file, as well
as transmission time, can be significantly greater than with the Monochrome
option.
True Color (24 bits). Generates color faxes. A color
fax can be transmitted in color or in black and white form, depending
on the capabilities of the receiving fax.
Whichever setting you select for the Color printing mode, you
will have a number of patterns available to select in the Halftone rendering
setting. These patterns will be used by the virtual printer when converting
the original document having a high resolution into lower resolution
facsimile graphics. The pattern selection can affect the visual quality
of the document as viewed by the receiving side.
If the document consists of only black text on white background, the
generated fax will look exactly the same regardless of the choice of
halftone rendering mode.
If the document consists of only black text on a white background,
the generated fax will look exactly the same regardless of which halftone
rendering mode has been selected.
The Paper/Quality tab (to access it, from the Windows Taskbar
select Start - Settings - Printers - VentaFax - Properties - Printing
options).
This tab lets you choose the right printing options quickly and easily.
Black-and-white
Best 200*200 dpi. Photographic halftones.
Standard 200*200 dpi. Halftones are rendered using patterns.
Draft 200*100 dpi. Halftones are rendered using patterns.
Color
Standard 200*200 dpi
Compression of color faxes
File format (the type of file as given by the filename extension) should
not be confused with the method of data compression used. The file format
is always TIFF (filename extension TIF), but file data can be compressed
in different ways. There are a number of compression methods.
If you are creating a document to be sent by fax, use LZW compression
(the default setting). Conversion into the format required for transmitting
a color fax is performed at the time of transmission. LZW method provides
compression with no reduction in quality. This is particularly important
if the color fax you create will be sent to different fax machines and
if it is not known beforehand whether they operate in color mode or
in black-and-white only. The highest quality of black-and-white faxes
is achieved when the original color fax has been generated without reduction
in quality.
If you are creating a fax document to be sent by e-mail and have
concerns about traffic (yours or the recipient's), then the choice between
LZW and JPEG (YCbCr) compression methods will depend on the contents
of the original document. If this document contains large pictures,
the file size will be significantly lower when using JPEG compression
(JPEG might produce a file of a few hundred KB where LZW would be a
few MB). However, for an original document containing no large images
of photographic quality (for instance, only text with a few color diagrams),
LZW could be superior to JPEG. One argument in favor of LZW, in this
case, is that TIFF files compressed with this method can be viewed using
standard Windows tools. In contrast, to view TIFF files compressed with
JPEG one would need additional image viewing software having advanced
features (for example, ACDSee Image Viewer). On the other hand, if you
use the "convert into PDF format" option when sending your
fax by e-mail, then Adobe Reader will let the recipient view a PDF rendering
of the file regardless of the compression method used. Needless to say,
VentaFax possesses the tools necessary for working with both of these
formats.
Note: PDF files generated by VentaFax
can be opened with Adobe Reader. However, VentaFax can open only those
PDF files that were created with VentaFax.
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