How to Put Both Sides of an ID Card on One Page (PDF)

Government e-services, banks, universities, employers and visa centres often have a single upload slot for an ID copy, or they want one sheet they can print and file. A card carries information on both sides: the photo, name and number are usually on the front, while the address, expiry date or a machine-readable strip may be on the back. With both sides on one page, nothing gets separated and the reviewer sees everything at once.

Requirements differ between countries and organizations, so check what your portal asks for: the file type (PDF or JPG), the maximum file size, whether the copy must be in colour, and whether a copy with a watermark is accepted.

• The card itself: a national ID, residence permit (iqama), driving licence, or a student or work ID.
• A phone camera or a scanner. A flatbed scanner gives the sharpest result, but a recent phone is enough.
• Two separate images, one of the front and one of the back, in JPG, PNG or WebP. If a photo will not load, it may be in the HEIC format iPhones use: convert it to JPG first, or set the camera to Most Compatible (Settings > Camera > Formats).

• Lay the card flat on a plain surface darker than the card, such as a desk or a book cover, so its edges stand out.
• Use even light; near a window in daytime is ideal. Turn the flash off, because it leaves a white glare spot on the laminate that can hide your number or photo.
• Hold the phone directly above the card and parallel to it, so the card stays rectangular.
• Let the card fill most of the frame, but keep all four corners visible. A copy with cut-off edges may be rejected.
• Tap the card on screen to focus, and check that the smallest text is sharp before you move on. Retake any blurry shot.
• Crop each photo to the edges of the card in your phone's photo editor. The merge tool places the image as it is and does not crop it, so any background left in the photo shows on the page and makes the card look smaller.

Photograph the back the same way and in the same orientation as the front, so the two sides match on the page.

1. 1Open the ID Card Merge tool on Desktora.
2. 2Under Front Side Photo, choose the photo of the front of the card. Under Back Side Photo, choose the photo of the back.
3. 3If a side shows sideways or upside down, press the rotate button next to it; each press turns the image 90 degrees. To replace a photo, press the remove (bin) button and add another.
4. 4Choose the Page Layout Style: Vertical Stack puts the front above the back, like a normal photocopy, and Side by Side puts them next to each other.
5. 5Adjust Card Size on Paper if needed. The live A4 preview updates as you move the slider.
6. 6Decide on the watermark (see the privacy section below). It is on by default with a "for verification only" line and today's date. You can edit the text, change its opacity or switch it off.
7. 7Press Download Ready A4 PDF for a one-page PDF, or Download High-Res JPG if the portal wants an image.

The result is a single A4 page (210 × 297 mm) with the front and the back each in its own frame, a small Front Side and Back Side label above each one, and a short line of grey text at the top and bottom of the sheet.

In Side by Side layout, a large card size can push the cards past the edge of the page. Watch the preview: if a card is cut off, lower the size or switch to Vertical Stack.

At the default card size of 85%, each side is placed about 86 mm wide on the A4 page, within a millimetre of a standard ID card (85.60 × 53.98 mm, the ID-1 size defined in ISO/IEC 7810). At 84% the difference is a fraction of a millimetre. This only holds if your photo is cropped close to the card's edges, because the tool fits the whole image inside the frame.

• Print the PDF, not the JPG: the PDF page is exactly A4, while image viewers often resize pictures to fill the paper.
• In the print dialog, choose Actual size or Scale 100%. Avoid Fit to page and Shrink oversized pages, which change the size.
• Load A4 paper. On US Letter paper, Actual size still keeps both cards whole; only the small text lines at the very top and bottom of the page may be cut.
• Lay your real card on the printout. If the size is slightly off, move the Card Size on Paper slider by one or two percent and print again.

Some portals set a maximum file size, such as 200 KB, 500 KB or 1 MB. Check the size of the file you downloaded. If it is over the limit, run the PDF through Desktora's Compress PDF tool, which can aim for a target size such as 200 KB, then make sure the card number and small print are still readable.

If the portal wants an image instead of a PDF, use the JPG download. If you also need to attach paper documents to the same application, Scan to PDF turns phone photos of pages into a PDF, and JPG to PDF combines several images into one file.

Give the file a clear name before uploading, such as national-id-front-back.pdf. The tool names it ID_Card_A4 followed by a number.

A clear image of both sides of your ID can be enough for someone to try to open accounts or sign up for services in your name. A few habits reduce the risk:

• Make the watermark say who the copy is for: replace the default text with the organization and purpose, for example "For ABC Bank account opening only", plus the date. A copy marked this way is harder to reuse elsewhere. Keep it visible but light enough that your details stay readable.
• If an organization asks for an unmarked copy, switch the watermark off for that file only.
• Upload your ID only to the official website or app of the organization that asked for it. Check the web address, and be wary of links that arrive by text message or social media.
• Avoid sending ID images by chat or email unless the organization asked you to, and delete copies from shared computers afterwards.
• ID Card Merge builds the page in your browser, so neither your photos nor the finished page reach Desktora.