A box of old postcards or greeting cards often holds handwriting, images, and postmarks that are genuinely irreplaceable, and digitising the whole stack is a practical way to preserve them beyond the condition of the physical originals, which tend to fade, yellow, or become more fragile over time.
Capturing both sides of each card
Most postcards and greeting cards carry meaningful content on both sides — an image or design on the front, a handwritten message and often a postmark on the back. Capture both sides as separate images for every card, rather than only the front, since the handwritten side is frequently the more personally valuable half.
Steps to digitise a full stack
- Scan or photograph each card's front and back under even, glare-free lighting.
- Straighten any images that came out slightly angled.
- Convert each pair of images to a combined PDF with Image to PDF, front followed by back, so each card's full content stays together as one document.
- Combine individual card PDFs into a larger collection with Merge PDF if you'd like a single archive rather than many separate files.
Keeping cards in a meaningful order
If the cards are from a specific collection, correspondence, or family member, consider digitising and ordering them chronologically or by sender, rather than in whatever order they happen to come out of the box, since a meaningfully ordered archive is considerably more useful to browse later.
Handling cards in fragile condition
For a particularly old, brittle, or delicate card, handle it as little as possible during the capture process, and consider photographing rather than using a flatbed scanner if there's any risk pressing it flat could cause damage. Preserving the physical card's condition takes priority over getting a perfectly flat digital capture.
Naming files in a way that captures useful context
Include whatever context you know in each file's name — a rough date, the sender's name, the occasion — since this kind of detail is easy to remember now but much harder to reconstruct later once the physical card is filed away or the memory has faded.
Sharing the digitised collection with family
A combined digital archive of old postcards or greeting cards makes a genuinely meaningful thing to share with family members who might not have access to the physical originals, particularly for cards documenting family history, travel, or correspondence between relatives.
Dealing with cards that have deteriorated over time
An older card may show fading, staining, or slight damage that a scan will faithfully capture along with the intended content. There's no need to try to digitally repair this kind of wear before scanning — capturing the card as it currently exists is itself a valid form of preservation, and any restoration attempt can always be done separately later if genuinely wanted, working from the preserved digital capture.
Working through a large collection at a sustainable pace
For a genuinely large box of cards accumulated over many years, treating the digitisation as an ongoing project completed in manageable sessions, rather than attempting the entire collection in one sitting, keeps the quality of your capture and organisation consistent, rather than the later cards in a long session receiving less careful attention than the earlier ones.
Considering transcription for handwriting that's hard to read
Older handwriting can sometimes be genuinely difficult to read, whether due to the writing style itself or the ink having faded over time. For a particularly meaningful card, typing out a transcription alongside the scanned image, while someone who can still decipher the handwriting is available to help, preserves the content even if the original script eventually becomes illegible to future generations.
Thinking about long-term storage format, not just the immediate scan
Beyond the immediate scanning step, consider where the digitised collection will actually live long-term — a cloud backup, a physical drive, or ideally both — following the same principles covered in our guide on building a simple backup routine, so this effort doesn't end up as vulnerable to loss as the physical originals it was meant to supplement.
Sharing the digitising task across family members
For a genuinely large collection, splitting the digitising work across more than one family member, each handling a portion of the stack, makes an otherwise lengthy project more manageable, as long as everyone follows the same basic approach to naming and capturing both sides consistently.
Setting a realistic pace rather than rushing a sentimental project
A project involving old family cards often carries genuine sentimental weight, and rushing through it purely for efficiency can undercut some of the value of actually engaging with each piece. It's fine to let this be a slower, more considered project rather than treating it purely as a digitisation task to clear quickly.
Frequently asked questions
Should I capture both the front and back of each card?
Yes, the back often holds a handwritten message or postmark that's just as valuable as the front's image.
What's the best way to handle a fragile old card?
Handle it minimally, and consider photographing rather than flattening it on a scanner if there's any risk of damage.
Should I order the digitised cards in any particular way?
Chronological or by sender is often more useful than the order they happen to come out of storage, particularly for a meaningful collection.
What information should I include in each file's name?
Any known context — a rough date, the sender, the occasion — since it's easier to capture now than to reconstruct later.
Can I combine several cards into one archive file?
Yes, using Merge PDF to combine individual card files into a single larger collection.
Should I keep the original physical cards after digitising?
Generally yes, particularly for anything with sentimental or historical value; the digital copy is a backup and an easy way to share, not necessarily a replacement.
Are the tools used for this free?
Yes. No sign-up, no watermark, and files are removed from the server automatically about an hour after processing.