# Scan two pages onto one page

Canonical HTML: [https://pdfpix.com/guides/scan-two-pages-onto-one-page/](https://pdfpix.com/guides/scan-two-pages-onto-one-page/)

Two scans on one page takes two steps in the browser. Images to PDF turns the two JPG or PNG scans into a two page PDF, one scan per page, with the pixels untouched. Then the N-up tool lays that PDF out at 2 pages per sheet, the first scan on the left and the second on the right. Both steps verify their output before the download appears.

## Two ways to read the question

"How to scan 2 images in one page" usually means a portal, a form or an office that wants both sides of a card, or two receipts, on a single page. The scanner gave you two images, and something has to put two scanned images on one page. That is this guide.

If instead you have a stack of pages and want one PDF with each scan on its own page, that is a different job, and [Scan multiple pages into one PDF](https://pdfpix.com/guides/scan-multiple-pages-into-one-pdf/) covers it.

## Step one, make the scans a PDF

Open [Images to PDF](https://pdfpix.com/images-to-pdf/) and drop the two scans on the page. It takes JPG and PNG, and it reads the format from the first bytes of each file rather than its name, so a scan saved with the wrong extension still opens. Use the arrow buttons to put the first scan first.

Choose the page fit. Match image gives each page the shape of its scan. A4 or US Letter gives each page a fixed size and fits the scan inside it, turning the page to landscape when the scan is landscape. Either way the pixels are embedded as they are, without resampling, so a 300 dpi scan stays a 300 dpi scan.

The tool reopens the PDF it wrote and verifies the page count, every page size and the pixel width and height of each embedded image before it offers the download. Save the two page PDF.

## Step two, put both on one page

Open the two page PDF in [the N-up tool](https://pdfpix.com/nup-pdf/). Leave the mode on N-up and press 2 under pages per sheet. The grid for 2 is two columns and one row, so the scans sit side by side. Set Orientation to Landscape for portrait scans, so the sheet is wide enough for both. Choose the Sheet size the portal or printer expects, US Letter or A4 for most.

The preview shows the sheet with page 1 on the left and page 2 on the right. Press the button, and the tool writes the sheet, reopens it and offers the download. The output is one page holding both scans, which is what the form wanted.

## Which scan lands where

Page 1 of the two page PDF lands on the left and page 2 on the right. The Page order control makes no difference for a single row of two cells. If the scans come out the wrong way round, the fix is in step one: swap them with the arrow buttons in Images to PDF and run both steps again.

For two scans that must sit one above the other, see the section below. The two per sheet grid is always side by side, and the tool never turns a page to fit.

## How large the two scans print

Each scan is scaled to fit its half of the sheet without cropping. Two portrait Letter sized scans on a landscape Letter sheet print at 60% each, and A4 scans on an A4 sheet at 65%. The margin around the sheet starts at 8 mm and the gutter between the two scans at 4 mm; both can go to 0 if the portal wants the scans as large as possible.

Scaling on the page does not touch the pixels. The image streams are copied into the sheet as they are, so the sheet prints as sharply as the scans did and the file is about the size of the two scans put together. No compression happens in either step.

## Two scans stacked instead of side by side

A portrait page with one scan above the other is the layout an ID upload sometimes asks for. The grid cannot stack, but rotation can. Open the two page PDF in [Rotate PDF](https://pdfpix.com/rotate-pdf/) and turn both pages a quarter turn, so each scan displays as landscape. Lay that out at 2 pages per sheet on a Landscape sheet, then rotate the finished sheet a quarter turn the other way.

The result is a portrait sheet with the two scans upright, one above the other. Each scan comes out at 46% rather than 60%, because a turned page fits its cell less well. Rotation is stored as a page attribute in 90 degree steps and changes no pixels.

## What the second step verifies on scanned pages

The N-up tool reopens its output and checks that the sheet count matches the plan and that the sheet has the chosen size. It also compares the text of each source page with the text on its sheet. A scan has no text layer, so for a pure image page that comparison has nothing to compare and the sheet check and geometry check are what stand.

Scanned text stays a picture through both steps. Neither Images to PDF nor the N-up tool reads the letters in a scan, so the finished page is not searchable. That is the same as the scans you started with, and it is worth knowing before a portal asks for a searchable file.

## When it is more than two

The same two steps scale to any count. Four receipts become a four page PDF and then one sheet at 4 per sheet. A stack of pages that should stay one per page needs only step one, which the scan multiple pages guide linked above covers.

[Put two PDF pages on one page](https://pdfpix.com/guides/put-two-pdf-pages-on-one-page/) covers the same layout for a document that is already a PDF, with the sizes for each sheet. [The pages hub](https://pdfpix.com/guides/pages/) lists every guide in the cluster.

## Questions and answers

### Can I scan 2 pages into 1 page straight from the scanner?

Some scanner software offers it and most does not. The two step route works from any two image files, including photos from a phone, so it does not depend on what the scanner driver offers.

### Do the two scans lose quality?

No. Images to PDF embeds the pixels without resampling, and the N-up tool copies the image streams into the sheet as they are. Scaling on the page changes how large the scan appears, not its pixel dimensions.

### Can the two scans sit one above the other?

Yes, with a rotation before and after. Turn both pages a quarter turn in Rotate PDF, lay them out at 2 per sheet on a Landscape sheet, then turn the finished sheet back. Each scan prints at 46% instead of 60%.

### Will the text in the scans be searchable?

No. Both steps keep the scans as pictures, and neither reads the letters in them. The finished page is as searchable as the scans were, which is not at all.

### Which scan lands on the left?

The first page of the two page PDF. Set that order with the arrow buttons in Images to PDF before you build the PDF.

### Are the scans uploaded at either step?

No. Both tools read the files, write the PDF and verify it in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, and analytics receives only aggregate counts.

## Related pages

- [Image to PDF](https://pdfpix.com/images-to-pdf/): Put JPG and PNG images into a single PDF, in the order you choose. The file stays in your browser. No upload, no account needed.
- [N-up, booklet and poster PDF](https://pdfpix.com/nup-pdf/): Put several PDF pages on each sheet, impose a folded booklet or tile one page as a poster. The file stays in your browser. No upload, no account needed.
- [Put two PDF pages on one page](https://pdfpix.com/guides/put-two-pdf-pages-on-one-page/): Put two PDF pages side by side on one page, so the file prints two-up or reads as a spread. Free, in your browser, with N-up, booklet and poster PDF.
- [Scan multiple pages into one PDF](https://pdfpix.com/guides/scan-multiple-pages-into-one-pdf/): Get a multi-page scan into a single PDF. Free, in your browser, with Image to PDF.
- [Edit PDF pages](https://pdfpix.com/guides/pages/): Find the right guide for adding, removing or turning pages. Every guide on the job, sorted by the problem you have.