How to Scan in Post Cards So The Front and Back Stay Together

I recently received a package full of old post cards, books, and tin types among other things from my great uncle. They are amazing; its so incredible to be able to read the handwriting of ancestors from over a hundred years ago. I started scanning them in, of course, but soon ran across a problem. How could I quickly and efficiently save the fronts and the backs of the post cards at the same time? After a bit of searching I found a solution.

First make sure you have scanned in your post card, both front and back separately. Make sure they are cropped properly as well. If your printer does not crop your photos for you automatically then I recommend installing Irfanview. Irfanview is a free and open source photo viewing software that comes stacked with a variety of options- including an 'Auto Crop Borders' tool that will trim off the extra white space for you.

The 'Auto Crop Boarders' Tool in Irfanview

Once you've got that ready go to this website: http://www.quickpicturetools.com/en/combine_images/

This is the fastest and most efficient photo combining tool I could find.

Next you want to decide what layout you want for your photos. You will most likely choose either horizontal side-by-side photographs or vertical top-to-bottom. I prefer Vertical top to bottom. The site makes it easy to do either one. You will see at the bottom of the gray viewing area a grid. Each section in this grid has a button that says 'add photo'. 

The grid you will use to add in your photos

Simply add the photo into the box that corresponds with the correct location for each photo. Since I want to make my photos stitch together top-to-bottom I add them in like this:

The layout for the photos

Then scroll down a bit, click generate image, and you're done! here is an example of one of my completed post cards:

A finished scanned postcard