Phone Scanning

How to scan both sides of an ID onto one page on iPhone

Updated 2026-10-31

Forms often ask for "a copy of your ID, front and back". If you scan a card with the iPhone's built-in scanner, in Notes, Files, Preview or Mail, and scan the front and then the back, you get a PDF with two pages: one side on each.

These steps are for iOS 26.

First, check whether two pages will do

Read the form's wording before going further. "Upload one file" is usually satisfied by a two-page PDF, because a two-page PDF is still one file. Use the method below only if the form says the front and back must be on the same page, or the person printing it wants one sheet.

To make the two-page version in Files:

  1. Open Files, tap the More button at the top, then tap Scan Documents.
  2. Scan the front, turn the card over, and scan the back.
  3. Tap Done, choose a folder and tap Save.

Our main scanning guide has the steps for the other apps.

Get both sides onto one page with Freeform

Freeform is Apple's free whiteboard app. It can scan, and it can export a whole board as a single-page PDF, so you can put two scans next to each other and save them as one page. If it isn't on your iPhone, it's free on the App Store.

Scan each side separately

  1. Open Freeform and tap the New Board button.
  2. Tap the Media button, then tap Scan Documents.
  3. Scan the front of the card. It captures by itself when it sees the edges; if it doesn't, tap the shutter button and drag the corners to the card's edges, then tap Keep.
  4. Tap Done. A card showing the scan appears on the board.
  5. Do steps 2 to 4 again for the back.

Scan the two sides in two separate scans, as above. If you scan both sides in one go, they end up as two pages inside one item on the board, and only the first page shows.

Arrange them

  1. Tap one of the scans to select it, then drag it from its centre to move it. Put the two scans one above the other, close together.
  2. To resize a scan, select it and drag one of the blue dots on its edge.
  3. To make both the same size, start resizing one, then touch and hold the other with a second finger. When Match Size appears, lift both fingers.

Export the page

  1. Tap the More button, then tap Export as PDF. You may have to scroll down to see it.
  2. If the board has saved scenes, you'll be asked how to export; choose Board so everything goes on one page. Most new boards have no scenes, so you won't see this.
  3. Choose how to send or save it, such as Mail, Messages or Save to Files.

The page is the shape of what's on the board, not a sheet of A4 or Letter paper, and the cards are whatever size you dragged them to. Open the PDF before you send it. Check that both sides are there, that you can read the name, number and dates, and that nothing is cut off at the edges.

Tips for scanning a card

What to watch with an ID

An ID scan contains your name, photo, date of birth and ID number. Send it only to the person or office that asked for it, through the channel they gave you. Afterwards, decide whether you need to keep the copy on your phone; the scan stays on the Freeform board and wherever you saved the PDF until you delete them.

Where this gets awkward

The Freeform route works, but it takes a lot of steps for a small job, and because the board has no idea how big the card really is, a printed copy won't come out at the card's real size. If someone will print it and compare it with the card, that can matter.

Sources

Add images, scans, links, and other files to a Freeform board, Position items on a Freeform board, Send a copy or PDF of a Freeform board and Send files from the Files app, from Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 26.

These guides are written by the people building Paperfind, a document scanner for iPhone. It isn't out yet, so there is nothing to download. Everything in this guide works with apps already on your phone.