[photo-3d] My new scanner & photoshop Question

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <drt-3d@xxxxxxx>]

I just got a new flat bed scanner.  It's a HP 5370Cse.
It has 1200 dpi optical resolution and 42-bit color.
USB or parallel interface.  It comes with a transparency 
adapter with a 5x5 inch area.

I just tested it and I am happy with it.  I scanned
several stereo slides and even a VM reel with good
results.  I plan to use it to scan slides for the
web or publication in a newsletter, etc.

I have a question regarding scanning stereo slides.
I would like to scan both images at once, and of 
course I am stuck with the blank area in between.

What is the fastest way to remove this blank
area in photoshop.  Ideally it would nice to just
outline this area and then cut if off and have
the other two parts (left and right images) stitch
together.  Is this possible in a few simple steps?
What I have been doing now is to cut the center
section out, then cut the right image and paste
it next to the left and then crop the two images
together.  But this creates two layers so if I want
to sharpen or change colors, etc., it is only done
at one layer at a time.  I need a faster way to 
do this!

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

George