ChromaFax from Compressent
I love color. In 1995 when ChromaFax from Compressent allowed you to fax in color I was blown away. Of cource a lot of amazing advancements have occured since then regarding faxing or tramsmitting all sorts of color documents. It's certainly a lot easier now. However when this site was first created ChromaFax was impressive if somewhat limited. Once technology moved on this site's domain was allowed to expired. When I discovered it was available I decided to buy it with the goal of recreating the content from its archived pages. You might wonder why I would recreate an old site's content that is not necessarily relevant today, but I believe from an historical perspective ChromaFax and what it offered way back in the 1990's should still be "searchable" on the web.
I'm fascinated with new technology, particularly anything that is related to the web or the transmission of information. At the moment I work for a software company that does custom application development for businesses that require specialized, industry-specific needs that are usually outside the scope of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) programs. If a company uses COTS software, they’re at the whim of the company that builds the software. Imagine the disruptions that could occur if the COTS software were discontinued? The company would most likely require expensive upgrades with little or no warning, or go out of business. Custom business and web application development that we create for clients is actually owned by them. They can keep it as long as they like. Custom software development alleviates the worry that the one program a company relies on day-in and day-out will suddenly not be available anymore. However, even custom applications need to be updated as technology advances. The work I do today will definitely evolve as technological advances keep going forward, just a fax technology evolved. So take some time looking back to the 1990's and what was once considered cutting edge technology.
You produce fabulous color documents on your computer - proposals, graphics, presentations, brochures, artwork, and more. Why fax them in black and white? With ChromaFax from Compressent, you can fax any document you create or scan into your computer in brilliant color. Because color enables you to communicate more clearly and present a more professional image, ChromaFax is ideal for individuals working in small or home offices where professionalism is a competitive advantage. In addition, home computer enthusiasts will also find sending greeting cards, photos and artwork to others just plain fun.
ChromaFax is a Windows 95 electronic fax application that lets you send and receive faxes in full color from your personal computer. ChromaFax supports a variety of color scanners and printers so you can capture color documents into your computer as well as print out color faxes you've received from others. And ChromaFax squeezes files down to a manageable size so that sending a color fax is practical.
Because it's based on industry standards, ChromaFax allows you to send faxes to and receive faxes from anyone who has software or equipment that supports recognized fax standards, which includes most fax machines and fax software. You can send a color fax to any Windows 95 user who has ChromaFax Receiver software, which is available free of charge and can be freely distributed. ChromaFax also communicates with today's installed base of black and white fax machines and e-fax software. If your destination is a black and white device, or the recipient does not have ChromaFax Receiver, the fax image is simply converted from color to black and white.
ChromaFax Benefits
- Color is a competitive advantage. Color brings a professional touch to brochures, proposals, and presentations created on a computer. The results enhance the professionalism of you and your organization.
- Color faxing is time and cost-effective. Overnight delivery is expensive and (relatively) slow. When material is best viewed in color, color faxing is a cost-effective way to get it there -- and fast!
- ChromaFax is easy to use (and fun!). Similar to a fax machine, the simplicity and ease-of-use of ChromaFax makes it usable by novice and experts alike.
- You won't be alone on an island of color. ChromaFax Receiver is free; distribute it to anyone with whom you wish to send a color fax
- Works with fax devices of today and the future. ChromaFax is based on established industry standards and is designed to work with today's installed base of fax machines, black and white e-fax software, and other PCs installed with ChromaFax.
- It's a great black and white fax program too! ChromaFax also sends in black and white and includes the key features you use in your favorite black and white fax program.
ChromaFax Features
Easy, flexible addressing
- Multiple phonebooks
- Group addressing
- Import existing phonebooks/databases
Save time and money
- Background send/receive
- Attach files via drag-and-drop
- Includes more than a dozen cover pages
- Send at off-peak hours
Customizable
- Cover page personalized with your color logo
- Custom cover page editor
- Fax annotations
And more...
- Integrate multiple files into one fax
- Support for all Twain-compliant scanners
System Requirements
- Pentium PC recommended
- Windows 95
- Standard Fax modem
- 16 MB RAM recommended
ChromaFax Was Ahead of Its Time.
1997:
ChromaFax was considered a cutting edge software that permitted the sending of color faxes anywhere in the world. That was how ChromaFax was promoted. However, in a world where color fax machines were few and often incompatible it was not as simple as you might think. NOTE: You needed to have the same brand of fax machines on both ends of the transmission.
According to Compressent that developed the digital image coding and data compression software, you could just use your color scanner to create an electronic color copy of the document to be faxed. Then the file was converted into a special digital form. The recipient's number is dialed, but before transmission occured, the program gathered information about the abilities of the fax system at the other end and automatically selected the appropriate transmission method.
It would transmit either as black and white to an ordinary fax machine or to a computer running fax software, color to a color fax machine, or to a PC running ChromaFax software.
When the PC running ChromaFax received the transmission, the computer used its color printer to print out the faxed document. Color faxing made easy!
Until color fax machines become more commonplace and standardized, using the digital image coding and data compression ChromaFax software was probably the best way to send a color document via fax at that time.
Fifteen years later....there is now an abundance of color fax machines available from moderately priced models to very expensive laser color printer / fax machines from all the major brands. And most people don't think twice about sending brightly colored documents via fax.