How can one send a PDF file from MacOS (Mojave) to an HP OfficeJet Pro 8740 printer for Faxing?

[Gnossos]

P. 53 of the manual for this printer gives instructions for sending a PDF from MacOS to the OfficeJet Pro 8740 printer, so the printer will fax the document. I get up to Step 4, "Enter a fax number or a name from your Contacts that already has a fax number entry," but nothing happens.

Since this is the first time I've tried this, I would expect:

• a dialog to pop up, from which I can initialize a standard fax cover sheet, and following this a dialog asking for details about the specific recipient of the fax;
• a separate way to store 1 or more standard fax cover sheets (e.g., one for personal use and one for professional use) and a fax dialog that pops up, allowing choice of the cover sheet and a dialog to fill in its fields
• some other way to combine a chosen cover sheet and recipient information

But Step 4 only mentions the target fax number, and in my setup even this doesn't work. Instead, nothing happens (i.e., there's not even a place to enter the target number).

What's wrong?

[Jay_G24]

Hi @Gnossos,

I'd like to help!

Try the below steps to setup digital fax on your computer

Prepare to set up HP Digital Fax

Make sure your computer and printer are prepared for HP Digital Fax setup.

• Set up the fax connection to the phone line: Confirm your printer is connected to your landline or digital telephone service and can send and receive faxes.

• Install HP software and drivers: Go to 123.hp.com (in English) to install the full-feature software and driver packages that includes HP Digital Fax.

• Confirm administrator rights: The administrator computer needs a username and password. If you are saving to a network, make sure the folder has full read and write access.

• Make sure the computer is on at all times: The destination folder's computer or server must be turned on and awake at all times. Faxes cannot be saved if the computer is off or in a hibernate state.

Set up HP Digital Fax

Run the guided HP Digital Fax setup tool in the HP software.

NOTE: 

Available options during setup vary by printer model and how it connects to the computer. USB-connected printers can save faxes to a local folder only. Network-connected printers support saving to a folder on the network and fax to email.

1. Open your HP printer software.

   • Windows: Search Windows for your printer model name and number, and then click the name in the search results to open HP Printer Assistant.

   • Mac: Open Finder, click Go > Applications, double-click the Hewlett-Packard or HP folder, and then double-click HP Utility.

2. Run the Digital Fax Setup software.

   • Windows: In HP Printer Assistant, select the Print, Scan & Fax tab, and then click Digital Fax Setup Wizard.

     

   • Mac: In HP Utility, under Fax Settings, click Digital Fax Archive.

     

3. Follow the instructions to complete setup.

4. Try and send a test fax

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

And, Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping

[Gnossos]

Thank you for your assistance. Unfortunately, your reply came three days after I had posted my question, at which time I was out of town for several days. Also, your suggestion involves eight steps, some of which are rather time consuming. Finally, and partly because I've been away, I have to attend to several other things that have higher priority.

This is to say that I have not had time to try your suggestion. I hope to get around to it within the next few days.

[Jay_G24]

Try it at your convenience and keep me posted with the results.

Stay safe!

[Gnossos]

OK. I followed your instructions. TL;DR: they didn't work.

1. I followed you instructions and went to 123.hp.com. There I entered my printer information, HP OfficeJet Pro 8740 and pressed enter. This took me to a page for installing HP Smart , which I tried to do. It opened the App Store on my desktop, and I tried to install the latest version of HP Smart. But as I write this, well over an hour later, the little circle, that indicates the app is down loading, is still spinning.
2. Your instructions say to use HP Utility, but the link you gave us takes us to HP Smart.
3. Fortunately, I had older versions of both and chose HP Utility. But nothing happened when I clicked "Digital Fax Archive," except I got a dialog for configuring Digital Fax Archive (e.g., where to store incoming faxes).
4. When I tried to send the fax, I followed your instructions. In my case, I opened Adobe Acrobat Pro > open a pdf document,  File > Print. Then by "Printer," I chose the one that has "fax" in its name.
5. But I also had to click the "Printer" button, and lo and behold there was a dialogue for sending a fax -- neither the manual nor your instructions mention this!
6. When I finished filling out the form, I clicked the Fax button. Nothing happened!

[Jay_G24]

You can find the full-featured drivers on the same page, here is the link

The drivers are available under the driver tab (HP Easy Start)

Please use the updated drivers and then try 

Hope this helps!

Let me know!

[Gnossos]

Thanks. But I'm still having trouble.

When I click on the link you posted, it takes me to the HP Smart App installation page. There's some blather about Microsoft Store accounts. When I click "Install" it takes me to a Mac App Store Preview page. Then I click the "View in Mac App Store" button.

Initially, this took me to the App Store page devoted to HP Smart. But the page had no "Get" button, no price button, no "Open" button. (I already have HP Smart 3.5 (260) installed.) All it had was a faded circle where these other icons usually appear.

So I closed the App Store and reopened it. This time, rather than have the HP page take me directly to the HP Smart page in the App Store, I searched for "HP Smart" from the App Store's start page. The App Store found HP Smart, and this time there was a "Get" button.  So I downloaded and installed the app. But now, instead of having an "Open" button, the App Store just says "Purchased" in a grayed out button.

If I go to my Applications folder, HP Smart 3.5 is still there. And I can't find the new version of HP Smart, which according to its page within hp.com is supposed to be version 12.7.1.

Also, if I open the existing 3.5 HP Smart app and select HP Smart > Check for updates, the app says, "No software update is available. Your version of HP Smart is up-to-date.

So I have no evidence of ever updating HP Smart to get the latest drivers.

Arrrgh!!!

[Jay_G24]

Could you try a different browser and check?

I have attached the above, please download the easy start.

Hope this helps!

Let me know!

[Gnossos]

I'm using Firefox. Also see the third from the bottom paragraph of my earlier post. Even the installed HP Smart says there's no updated version.

Here's a screenshot of what I see in Firefox:

(I'm not sure you can see this. This forum has no tools for uploading images, so I copied the screenshot to my clipboard and pasted the image here. I can see it. But in a subsequent view, after I posted this reply, I couldn't. In any case, here's a link to the page.)

Notice unlike yours, there's no Software-Utility item. If I view the page in Safari, it still looks like this.

[Jay_G24]

Could you click on the driver tab and check?

Keep me posted!