Letterhead Design Tips for a Professional Business Image

Start with how the letterhead will actually be used

A letterhead is not a standalone design, it is a background that other content, a letter, an invoice, a quote, gets printed or written on top of afterwards. That constraint should shape the design from the start: leave clear, generous space for a full page of text, and keep your logo and contact details out of the areas where body text will sit, usually the top and bottom margins rather than the centre of the page.

Keep the header simple and consistent

Most letterheads work best with a simple header containing your logo, business name and key contact details, positioned consistently at the top of the page. Resist the temptation to add multiple colours, background images or heavy graphics behind where text will be typed, since anything busy behind printed or typed text makes the finished letter harder to read, not more professional-looking.

Footer details worth including

A footer is a practical place for details that do not need to be prominent but should be present: registered address, company number if applicable, website and social handles. Keeping this in a small, consistent footer means it is available on every printed page without competing with the header or the letter content itself.

Paper weight and finish

Letterheads need to feed reliably through a standard office printer or photocopier, so paper weight matters more here than for most print. Around 100-120gsm uncoated stock is the typical choice: heavier than standard copier paper for a more substantial feel, but not so heavy that it jams a printer, and uncoated so a second pass of toner or ink from your printer takes properly. A laminated or heavily coated finish, which works well for other paper products, is the wrong choice for something designed to be printed on again.

Matching your wider stationery

If your business also uses compliment slips, envelopes or business cards, keeping the branding, colours and logo placement consistent across all of them makes correspondence look considered rather than assembled from mismatched pieces. Star Printers can print letterheads alongside matching stationery so the whole set stays consistent.

Printed vs digital letterheads

Increasingly, businesses use a digital letterhead, a branded template used for emailed documents and PDFs, alongside a smaller run of printed letterheads kept for physical correspondence, signed contracts or formal letters that need to be posted. If you need both, it is worth designing them together from the outset, since a layout with fine detail close to the edge can behave differently once it goes through an office printer compared with how it renders on screen. Tell Star Printers if you need a print-ready file as well as a printed run, and we can make sure the design holds up in both formats.

Getting your letterhead design right

If you don't have a finished design, our free design service can help lay out a letterhead from your logo and details. See our letterhead printing page, browse all printing services, or contact us to get started.