Despite the advancement in technology, there are still a lot of businesses and establishments that use thermal fax machine. With the use of this device, sending and receiving of paper documents are made easy especially when emails do not work. Thermal fax machine is a useful yet inexpensive business device.

Just like any other fax machines, a thermal fax machine sends and receives message. It uses photo sensors to skim through the document including the small dots that composes the information. Once the machine is able to read and encode the information it will then send the message to another fax machine.

Unlike other kinds of fax machines, a thermal fax machine has a different way of transferring the document to the paper. It utilizes heat instead of an ink to create the image and text. There are 2 methods used with a thermal fax machine: direct thermal method and transfer method.

One kind of thermal fax machine uses thermal papers to print out the information it receives through direct thermal method. Nowadays, thermal papers are not only used to contain information from fax machine but also from other thermal devices. It is a commonly used when printing receipts and barcode tags for an item.

Thermal papers can be distinguished from other papers through its smell and texture. It gives off a distinct smell because of the chemicals on it. It also feels slippery and is shiny thus writing on it is difficult. The chemicals on the paper react to heat, so when it passes through a thermal machine in appropriate places it will produce the desired text.

Thermal papers have 3 basic parts:

1. Substrate layer is the paper layer.
2. Base layer is the part which contains gelatin, alkali salts and starches. It also contains porosity improver, the component that helps transmission of heat through paper.
3. Active layer contains a colorless formula. The one that reacts to heat.

Some thermal papers may also contain protective covering that decreases fading of the document making it resistant to grease, oil, and the like. A thermal paper that is used for thermal method comes in rolls and sheets that are feed to the device.

Another type of method is thermal transfer method. In this method thermal papers are still used but there is already a third element needed and that is a ribbon. The ribbon contains the ink which can be transferred to the paper when heat is applied. With a thermal transfer fax machine, an ordinary paper can be used.

There are 3 materials utilized in the ribbon and these are:

1. Wax- is a cheap option. The outcome can be easily smudged thus images will fade faster.
2. Resin- with a resin, the outcome does not easily smudge but it is much more expensive that with a wax.
3. Wax/resin composite- This option of average people. It is not as expensive as resin but not as cheap as wax, hence the quality produced is also average.

Reference: Thermal Paper > The Risks in Using Thermal Paper Products