How to Scan Two-Sided Documents

By Kevin Lee

When you scan a document, you are actually converting it into an image. After the document is converted, you can leave it as an image or copy it to an electronic document on your computer. If you need to scan both sides of a document, you can do that without purchasing a special scanner. Windows comes with a free program that allows you to combine scanned images into a single file.

Scan Document

Step 1

Turn on the scanner. Place your document face down on your scanner tray and close the lid.

Step 2

Scan the document according to the scanner manufacturer's instructions. Usually, you simply press the "Scan" button.

Step 3

Wait for the scanner to scan the document. The scanner will convert the document into an image.

Step 4

Save the image to your computer when prompted. Place it in an easily accessible folder.

Step 5

Open the scanner's lid, and turn the document over. Close the lid, and scan that document. The scanner will create a new image file.

Step 6

Save that image in the same folder where you saved the previous one.

Combine Scanned Images

Step 1

Click the "Start" button, located in the bottom left corner of your computer screen. The Start menu opens.

Step 2

Type "WordPad" (without the quotation marks) in the search box. Click the "WordPad" icon when it appears at the top of the Start menu. The WordPad application will open and display a new, empty document.

Step 3

Press the "Windows" key and the "E" key together to launch Windows Explorer. Navigate to the folder that contains your scanned images.

Step 4

Hold down your "Ctrl" key, and left-click both image files. Windows Explorer will highlight them.

Step 5

Right-click either of the image files, and select "Copy" from the drop-down menu that appears.

Step 6

Return to the WordPad document. Right-click anywhere in that document, and select “Paste” from the drop-down menu. WordPad will paste the two scanned images into the document.

Step 7

Press the "Ctrl" and "S" keys to open a "File Save" window. Type a name for the document in the "File Name" text box, and click "Save."

References

Writer Bio