1. How to Design a Professional Letterhead for Your Business

    Your letterhead is one of the most understated yet important elements of your brand identity. Every letter, proposal, invoice and formal document you send carries your letterhead — and the impression it makes reflects directly on your business. A well-designed letterhead communicates professionalism, builds trust and reinforces your brand at every point of contact. A poorly designed one undermines all of that.

    In this guide, we walk through everything you need to know to design a letterhead that works — from the elements to include to paper stock selection and print setup.

    What Should a Letterhead Include?

    A professional letterhead typically includes the following elements:

    • Logo — the centrepiece of your letterhead. Should be a high-resolution vector file to ensure it prints sharply at any size
    • Company name — clear and legible, placed alongside or beneath your logo
    • Address — your registered or trading address
    • Contact details — phone number, email address and website URL
    • Social media handles — optional but increasingly common, particularly for client-facing businesses
    • Tagline or strapline — if your brand has one, a short tagline can reinforce your positioning
    • Registered company details — for limited companies, including your company registration number and registered address (if different) is a legal requirement on formal correspondence

    Not every element needs to be given equal prominence. Your logo and company name should dominate — contact details and legal information can be smaller and placed in a footer.

    Letterhead Layout Options

    There are two primary letterhead layout approaches:

    • Header only — all branding and contact information sits at the top of the page, leaving the full page width for letter content below. Clean, traditional and the most common format for professional correspondence
    • Header and footer — branding at the top, contact details or legal information in the footer. Allows a cleaner header while still including all necessary information. Particularly useful for limited companies with required legal details

    Whichever layout you choose, leave enough space below the header for the letter content to breathe — a cramped header that eats into the usable page area is a common design mistake.

    Design Principles for an Effective Letterhead

    Use Your Brand Colours and Fonts

    Your letterhead should be an extension of your existing brand identity — same colours, same fonts, same logo treatment as your business cards, website and other materials. Inconsistency between your print and digital materials undermines brand credibility. See our guide: Typography and Fonts: Essential Tips for Effective Print Materials

    Keep It Simple

    A letterhead is a functional document — its job is to identify your business and provide contact details, not to showcase every element of your brand. Resist the temptation to fill the header with colour, patterns or excessive graphic elements. White space is your friend. A clean, restrained design looks significantly more professional than an overcrowded one.

    Prioritise Legibility

    Contact details need to be easy to read at a glance — use a clean, professional font at a comfortable size. Avoid decorative fonts for address and contact information. Minimum 8pt for print, though 9–10pt is preferable for readability.

    Ensure Your Logo is High Resolution

    Always use a vector version of your logo (AI, EPS, PDF or SVG) for print artwork. A low-resolution JPEG or PNG logo will print blurry, which immediately undermines the professional impression you're trying to create. See our guide: Understanding DPI for Print

    Choosing the Right Paper for Your Letterhead

    Paper stock has a significant impact on the feel and impression of a printed letterhead. Standard options include:

    • 100gsm uncoated — a slightly heavier than standard office paper with a professional feel. Writeable and suitable for laser and inkjet printers if you need to print variable content (names, addresses) onto pre-printed letterheads
    • 120gsm uncoated — a noticeably more substantial feel than standard office paper. Popular for businesses that want their correspondence to feel premium without the cost of a heavier stock
    • 170gsm uncoated — a heavyweight stock that communicates quality and seriousness. Suitable for formal correspondence and high-value client communications

    Uncoated stock is the standard choice for letterheads as it is writeable and compatible with most office printers for overprinting variable content. Coated stocks are not recommended for letterheads that will be written on or printed on after delivery.

    See our letterhead printing options for available stocks and quantities.

    Setting Up Your Letterhead Artwork for Print

    • Size: A4 (210×297mm) — standard letterhead size
    • Bleed: 3mm all round if your design includes colour or imagery that extends to the edge. See our guide: What is Bleed and Safe Zone?
    • Safe zone: Keep all important content at least 3mm inside the trim line
    • Resolution: 300dpi minimum for all images
    • Colour mode: CMYK. See our guide: What is CMYK and Why Does it Matter?
    • Format: PDF with fonts outlined or embedded
    • Proof check: Double-check all contact details, addresses and spellings before submitting — errors on a letterhead are costly to correct after printing. See our proof checking guide

    Complete Your Business Stationery Suite

    A letterhead rarely stands alone — most businesses need a complete stationery suite for a consistent, professional impression across all correspondence. Consider pairing your letterhead with:

    Print Your Letterheads in Brighton & Hove

    Dipol Print offers professional letterhead printing on a range of uncoated stocks for businesses across Brighton & Hove and the wider UK. Collect from our print shop at 97 St James's Street, Brighton BN2 1TP or order online for UK-wide delivery.

    Need advice on paper stock or artwork setup? Get in touch with our team — we're happy to help.