Both sides of an ID card in one PDF, from your phone
Updated October 31, 2026
Opening a bank account, renting a flat, starting a job, collecting a parcel: someone asks for "a copy of your ID, both sides, in one file". The photo you take on the table shows the card small and crooked in a sea of tablecloth, and two photos are two files. What they want is one PDF, each side cropped to the card and readable.
Scan to PDF has an ID card page format for exactly this, and the copy is made on your phone: the card is not uploaded anywhere. Here is the whole process, including the part most guides skip: what to do to the copy before you send it.
1. Photograph the front, then the back
Open the ID card variant of the scanner, or open Scan to PDF and set the Page format to ID card. The format is ID-1, 85.6 × 54 mm, the size of every bank card and of most national identity cards and driving licences; the tool uses it to give each side the right proportions instead of guessing them from the photo.
Put the card on a plain, darker surface so its edges stand out: a wooden desk, a dark folder, the back of a notebook. Switch the flash off: the holographic layer of most cards throws glare over the text, and daylight from the side works best. Hold the phone parallel to the card and let the camera take the picture when the card is still, then turn the card over and take the back. Two pictures, two pages.
2. Check the corners and the filter
Open each page. If the outline missed a corner, drag it onto the real corner with the magnifier; Snap corners to the paper pulls them onto the edge. Choose the filter: Natural keeps the holder's photo and the colours of the card, which some recipients insist on; Black & white is fine when only the text matters. Compare before and after at full zoom and make sure the small print and the numbers are intact.
3. Protect the copy before you send it
A copy of an ID card is a document that can be reused by someone else to open accounts in your name. Two things help. Write the purpose and the date across the copy with the Text annotation, over the card but not over the fields the recipient needs: "copy for the rental contract, 31 Oct 2026". A copy marked like that is much harder to reuse elsewhere.
Black out what the recipient does not need with Redact: the personal number for a parcel pickup, the address for a club membership. The redaction is permanent: the pixels are removed from the saved photo itself, and the words under the box are removed from the searchable text as well, before the PDF is made. Ask the recipient what they actually need; many need less than the whole card.
4. Save one PDF
Choose Size: Small (e-mail) if the copy goes by e-mail or into a form with an upload limit; Balanced otherwise. Tap Save PDF. The file has two pages, front and back, each at card size. If the recipient wants the two sides on one A4 page, that composition is not in the tool yet: save as JPG per page (ZIP) and put the two images on one A4 page with JPG to PDF, or send the two-page PDF, which is what most forms accept.
What the tool does not do yet
It does not put both sides on the same page; each side is one page. It does not detect or blur a face, a number or a signature on its own; the redaction is yours to place. It cannot read the text through strong glare; if the photo shows a white patch over the numbers, retake it with the card tilted a little. And it does not verify the document: it is a scanner, not an identity check.
Tips
- A driving licence, a residence permit or a health card has the same ID-1 size: the same format works.
- A passport is not a card: use the Auto page format and photograph the open page flat, with the spine pressed down.
- Send the copy as a PDF, not as a photo: a photo in a chat is re-compressed and the small print goes.
- Delete the saved scan with Start over once the file is sent, or tick the option that removes it after saving.
Questions
- Is the card uploaded anywhere?
- No. Detection, cropping, filters, annotations, redaction and the PDF are all made in the browser on your phone, and the pages are kept only in this browser's storage until you tap Start over.
- Why not just send the two photos?
- Two photos are two files, each with the table around the card and a slant; most forms accept one PDF, and a PDF at card size with the purpose written on it is both easier to read and harder to misuse.
- Can I add a copy of another document to the same PDF?
- Keep scanning with Scan more: the pages join the same scan. A PDF you already have can be joined afterwards with Merge PDF.