Replicating irregular paper item plastic protector for fax machine
I am looking for a fax cover that is a white sheet of paper with a plastic cover to fax small items. I have an HP, and one came with my machine years ago.
Aha. Those things. I’ve seen them provided for use with document feeder style copy machines as well as fax machines, because users shouldn’t load photos, postcards, transparencies, cash register receipts or very thin paper (like newspaper or magazine clippings) in an automatic document feeder (ADF) because the fax machine could fail to recognize the item, or, worse, it could jam the machine.
I didn’t know they have a name, but it seems that they are most often referred to as document carrier sheets. Unfortunately, searches of Hewlett-Packard’s site, as well as those of some other fax accessory suppliers, don’t show replacements of the piece that came with your machine being offered. However, I did find that Fujitsu makes a similar product to use with its ScanSnap scanners. The ScanSnap carrier sheets are sold in a pack of five for about $35 via Amazon.com and other sources. The carrier sheets guide paper through the scanner, which is similar in setup to a fax machine. Carrier sheets are also sold for products such as AccuFax, and it’s likely they can be used with various fax and scanner models.
Also, you can likely create a version of this simple device at home. One approach would be to alter a sheet protector, such as those sold to place in binders. You’ll need to cut off the hole-punched edge and make sure it’s not too wide for the document feeder. Place a blank, white sheet of paper inside the page protector and put your small-sized document inside the protector, on top of the paper. (The white sheet is so the fax machine’s optical sensor picks up on paper being in there.) If this setup looks promising to you and fits in your fax machine’s feed area (FaxAnswers.com will not be held liable etc., etc.), go ahead and hit Send. You may need to nudge the protector a bit to get the machine to “grab” it.
Alternatively, if you have access to a flat (not feed-through) photocopier you could copy the small item and fax the standard-sized photocopy.
Do you have a question about faxing? Send me your fax question.