Letterhead Design and Templates: The Complete Business Guide

Most businesses treat letterhead as a design project. Pick a font, add the logo, drop in the phone number, send it to the printer. That covers the visual side. What most letterhead guides skip entirely is the operational side: which paper weight your printer can actually handle, how your letterhead and envelope need to work as a matched pair, what happens to your branding when the letterhead folds into thirds to fit a #10 envelope, and why the most expensive letterhead mistake is ordering 500 sheets before testing one.

This guide covers everything from what legally belongs on a business letterhead to the envelope decisions that most people do not think about until after they have already printed 500 sheets.

What is a letterhead and why it matters more than most businesses realize

A letterhead is branded stationery: a preprinted or templated document header that carries your company's visual identity, name, and contact information at the top of official correspondence. Every contract, proposal, formal letter, invoice cover, and official notice that leaves your office on paper should be on your letterhead.

The practical case for letterhead is straightforward. A document on a blank white sheet looks like a draft. The same document on letterhead looks like official company communication. Research from Adobe shows that consistent branding across all touchpoints including paper correspondence can increase revenue by up to 23 percent. The letterhead is a touchpoint. So is the envelope it arrives in.

The less obvious case is the trust signal. A well-designed letterhead tells the recipient something about the organization before they read a single word of the letter. A healthcare practice, a law firm, a financial advisor, and an accounting firm all use letterhead not because it is required but because it signals that the document inside is official and the sender takes their correspondence seriously.

What to include on a business letterhead

Every guide covers this, but most get the priority order wrong. Here is what belongs on your letterhead, ranked by importance.

Company name and logo. This is the non-negotiable top of every letterhead. Your company name in your brand typeface, alongside or beneath your logo, positioned in the upper portion of the page. The logo should be in vector format so it scales cleanly at any size. If your logo only exists as a JPEG, it will look soft or pixelated when printed, particularly on premium paper stocks.

Complete mailing address. Your physical street address or registered business address. If you operate from multiple locations, use your primary or headquarters address. Do not use a P.O. box as your only address on business letterhead. Clients and business contacts expect a physical location.

Primary phone number. Your main incoming line. Direct lines can be included but the main number is the priority. Format consistently across all your stationery.

Email address. A general contact email ([email protected] or [email protected]) is better than a personal employee address because it does not need to change when staff turns over. If you have specific department emails (legal@, billing@), those belong on department-specific letterhead variants rather than the master template.

Website URL. Without the https:// prefix in most design contexts. Plain yourbusiness.com is visually cleaner.

Optional but valuable additions:
A tagline under the company name if it adds context. LinkedIn or other social media handles for businesses where those channels are active. A registered trademark symbol on the logo if applicable. A professional certification or association membership relevant to your industry (law license number, CPA designation, medical board certification, contractor license number). In some regulated industries in the US, specific disclosures are required on official correspondence. Financial advisors regulated by FINRA, healthcare providers dealing with PHI under HIPAA, and legal practitioners in some states have disclosure requirements that vary by jurisdiction.

What NOT to include:
Multiple phone numbers for multiple staff members (use a directory, not the letterhead). Multiple email addresses. Social media icons for every platform your company has ever touched. Decorative elements so large they crowd the letter body. Anything that will need to be updated frequently. Letterhead is a printed asset, not a website.

How to structure your letterhead layout

There are three standard letterhead layouts used in US business correspondence. Which one is right for your organization depends on your brand identity and your typical correspondence volume.

Header only. The most common layout. Your logo, name, and contact information occupy the top 1.5 to 2 inches of the page. The footer is either blank or carries a minimal single line with website and address. This gives maximum space for letter content, works well for organizations that write long correspondence, and is clean enough that the letterhead does not compete with the document.

Header and footer. Logo and name in the header, full contact details in the footer. This distributes visual weight across the page and is common for professional services firms (law, accounting, consulting) where the full contact block at the bottom looks organized and complete. Leaves less room for long letter bodies but works well for most standard correspondence lengths.

Left column sidebar. Logo and contact information in a left-side column, letter body in a wider right column. Less common but distinctive. Works well for organizations with multi-line contact blocks (multiple office locations, multiple partner names, several contact methods). Takes skill to design and can feel cluttered if not handled carefully.

For most small and mid-size businesses, header only or header and footer is the correct choice. It is also the easiest to maintain across digital and print versions of the document.

Letterhead paper weight: the decision most guides get wrong

Every letterhead design guide tells you to use "premium paper." Almost none of them explain what that means in practice or what happens if you choose wrong.

Here is the complete practical breakdown of letterhead paper weights.

20 lb bond (75 gsm): This is standard copy paper. It feeds through every office printer reliably. It looks like copy paper when someone holds it. For internal memos, drafts, and volume mailings where cost matters more than impression, this is fine. For anything going to a client, it sends the wrong signal. Your letterhead on 20 lb bond looks like a draft.

24 lb bond (90 gsm): The professional standard for business letterhead. Noticeably more substantial than copy paper. Holds print crisply from both laser and inkjet printers. This is the weight most commercial printers use for standard letterhead stock, the weight most quality suppliers ship printed letterhead on, and the weight that works cleanly in most standard office printers when feeding individual sheets through the manual tray. For most businesses, this is the correct choice.

28 lb bond (105 gsm): Premium business letterhead. The step up from 24 lb is immediately perceptible when you hold the sheet. Used by law firms, financial advisors, medical practices, and any organization where the physical feel of the correspondence communicates something about the quality of the services inside. At 28 lb, you will want to test your specific printer before ordering in volume. Some desktop printers struggle to fuse toner properly on heavier stock.

32 lb bond (120 gsm): Heavyweight stationery. The look and feel of 32 lb bond is unmistakably premium. It is thick enough that some office printers will not feed it reliably. If you are printing your own letterhead in-house, confirm your printer's maximum paper weight before ordering this stock. If you are using a commercial printer, 32 lb is entirely appropriate and produces excellent results.

The detail no guide mentions: Paper weight affects the weight of your mailing. A single 24 lb bond letterhead sheet plus a standard #10 envelope comes in just under one ounce, the threshold for standard First-Class postage. A 28 or 32 lb bond sheet plus a quality envelope may push past one ounce if the letter is more than two pages. For organizations sending formal multi-page correspondence on heavyweight stock, weigh a complete sealed piece before assuming one stamp covers it.

The letterhead and envelope connection that no one discusses

Here is the part of letterhead design that virtually every guide ignores: your letterhead and your envelope are a matched pair, and they need to be designed and specified together rather than separately.

When your 24 lb bond letterhead folds into thirds and slides into a #10 envelope, several things happen at once. The fold creates a visible crease across your letterhead design at the one-third and two-thirds points of the page. If you have a graphic element, a color bar, a watermark, or an important design feature that falls at those fold points, it will be creased. Design your letterhead knowing exactly where the one-third fold lines fall on an 8.5 x 11 page: at 3.67 inches and 7.33 inches from the top.

The envelope color and finish should coordinate with your letterhead stock. A cream or natural white letterhead going into a bright white envelope looks mismatched when the recipient pulls the document out. A premium cotton bond letterhead going into a thin economy envelope feels incongruous. The envelope is part of the first impression. It should reinforce the quality of what is inside, not undercut it.

For organizations sending letterhead correspondence at any volume, printed envelopes with your logo and return address carry the brand presentation from the moment the piece appears in the recipient's mail pile. A plain white #10 with a return address label says "we processed this." A printed #10 envelope with your logo says "this is from us, it is official, and it matters."

For billing and invoice correspondence where the letterhead carries the address information, window envelopes eliminate the addressing step entirely. The address printed on your invoice shows through the window. The envelope stock and the letterhead stock are still part of the same brand presentation, just with the window format for efficiency.

How to match your envelope to your letterhead

This is the practical matching guide that most stationery resources never provide.

Standard 8.5 x 11 letterhead on 24 lb bond:
Use a #10 envelope in white wove 24 lb stock. The paper weight matches. The finish matches. One standard First-Class stamp covers the weight in most standard correspondence scenarios. For custom printing, match the ink colors on the envelope to the brand colors on the letterhead.

Premium 28 lb or 32 lb bond letterhead:
Use a #10 envelope in white wove 24 lb or 28 lb stock. Going up in paper weight on the envelope increases per-piece cost and adds to total mailing weight. Most premium letterhead programs use 24 lb envelopes with 28 or 32 lb letterhead and the combination feels intentional without being wasteful.

Legal-size 8.5 x 14 letterhead (less common):
If your standard letterhead is legal size rather than letter size, a #10 envelope will not accommodate it folded in thirds cleanly. A legal-size sheet folds into thirds at 4.67 inches per panel, which fits in a #10 but with less clearance and a tighter fold. Alternatively, send legal-size correspondence flat in a 9 x 12 catalog envelope. The piece mails as a flat at a higher postage rate but arrives unfolded and more professional for formal correspondence.

Letterhead for contracts and legal filings:
For any correspondence where the document must arrive without fold marks, flat in a 9 x 12 catalog envelope is the correct approach regardless of letterhead paper weight. For filings and documents that genuinely cannot arrive damaged or moisture-affected, Tyvek envelopes in 9 x 12, 10 x 13, or 10 x 15 sizes deliver documents in original condition regardless of what happens in transit.

How to design letterhead that works in both print and digital

This is where many letterhead design projects create problems for themselves. A letterhead designed only for print often looks wrong as a PDF header. A design built only for digital often loses detail or color accuracy when printed.

The rules for a letterhead that works cleanly in both contexts:

Use CMYK color values for print, not RGB. RGB colors displayed on screen do not reproduce exactly in CMYK print. If your brand colors are specified only in RGB hex codes, convert them to CMYK values before giving the file to a printer. Colors that look vibrant on screen can print muddy or shifted without CMYK specification.

Use vector format for your logo. A logo in SVG, EPS, or AI format scales to any size without losing sharpness. A JPEG or PNG logo will print with visible softness at the resolution required for quality letterhead printing (300 DPI minimum). If you do not have a vector version of your logo, get one before committing to a letterhead design.

Set your document to 8.5 x 11 inches at 300 DPI. This is the standard for US letterhead. Any design built at a lower resolution will look soft when printed on quality stock. Any design built at a different page size will need to be reformatted when printing.

Keep a digital template version as a Word or Google Doc with the header embedded. This is the version your team uses to type letters. The header design is locked (not editable by the person typing the letter) but the body is fully editable. This prevents staff from accidentally modifying the branding elements while drafting correspondence.

Test your digital letterhead template for print before distributing it. Print one sheet on the paper stock you plan to use before ordering a quantity. Letterhead that looks correct on screen often needs minor adju

The fold-point problem: what no one tells you about letterhead design

This is the information that virtually no letterhead guide includes and that causes the most complaints after a letterhead print run.

When a standard 8.5 x 11 letterhead is folded in thirds to fit a #10 envelope, the fold lines fall at 3.67 inches and 7.33 inches from the top of the page. Any design element that crosses those lines will have a crease through it.

Common mistakes this creates:

A horizontal color bar at the bottom of the letterhead header lands at exactly the wrong height, creating a crease through the brand element when the letter is folded.

A watermark or background graphic centered on the page gets creased at both fold lines, breaking the visual twice.

A decorative border that runs the full perimeter of the page looks fine when flat but develops two horizontal crease marks when folded for mailing.

The fix is straightforward: before finalizing your letterhead design, draw two horizontal lines on your design file at 3.67 and 7.33 inches from the top. Make sure no critical design element, logo, color block, decorative line, or important graphic, crosses those points. Plain body text crossing a fold line is fine. Design elements crossing fold lines create a permanently creased letterhead that looks careless.

If your letterhead design must have elements across the full page depth, such as a left-column sidebar design, use a 9 x 12 catalog envelope to mail it flat rather than folded in thirds. The piece mails as a flat at higher postage but arrives without a crease compromising the design.

Letterhead for specific industries: what each one needs

Different industries have different expectations for letterhead content and format. Here is what each of the most common letterhead-using industries needs to know.

Law firms:
Formal and conservative design. Partner names on the letterhead are traditional for smaller firms. Header with firm name and logo, footer with full contact block and office address. Heavy paper stock (28 to 32 lb bond) is the norm. Correspondence that includes case-sensitive documents should be sent flat in a 9 x 12 envelope or Tyvek envelope rather than folded into a #10. Some states require bar association membership disclosure on official correspondence.

Healthcare practices:
Clean, clinical design. HIPAA compliance language may be required on correspondence carrying patient information. Opt for security tinted envelopes when mailing any correspondence that includes patient data, since security tinting prevents document contents from being visible through the envelope. Plain window envelopes without security tinting are not appropriate for patient correspondence containing PHI.

Financial services:
Conservative design, full contact block, regulatory disclosures where required by FINRA or SEC. For account statements and financial documents, window envelopes with security tinting keep account numbers and balances private in transit. Custom printed envelopes with the firm's logo help recipients recognize the correspondence as official before opening.

Nonprofits:
Letterhead that clearly identifies the organization's name, mission statement or tagline, and donation-related contact information where applicable. For fundraising correspondence, colored envelopes increase open rates. A pre-stamped reply envelope enclosed in the outgoing piece significantly improves donor response rates.

Real estate agencies:
Agent name and credentials, brokerage affiliation, and licensing information. For contracts and disclosure documents that need to arrive flat and signed, 9 x 12 catalog envelopes or 10 x 13 envelopes are the correct format.

What makes Business Envelopes different for letterhead and envelope matching

Business Envelopes has supplied commercial envelopes to US businesses, law firms, healthcare facilities, nonprofits, and direct mail operations since 1997. Here is what separates this catalog for organizations setting up a matched letterhead and envelope stationery system.

Custom printed envelopes matched to your brand. Printed envelopes with your logo, return address, and brand colors printed directly on the stock across every commercial size. PDF proof before production. Nothing prints until you approve it. Artwork stays on file permanently for reorders. The brand presentation that starts with your letterhead continues through the envelope.

Every envelope format in one catalog. Plain white for standard correspondence. Window and double window for billing and invoicing. Security tinted for financial and healthcare mail. Self seal closures for high-volume operations. Tyvek for documents that cannot arrive damaged. Colored envelopes for direct mail and fundraising programs. All from one supplier, all with free ground shipping.

No minimums, free shipping. Order exactly the quantities your program needs. A single box of 50 ships the same day as a case of 5,000. Free ground shipping on every order to the contiguous 48 states. Blank stock ships same or next business day. Custom printed stock ships 7 to 10 business days from proof approval.

Self seal for letterhead mailing programs. Any organization sending letterhead correspondence at volume benefits from self seal envelopes. No moisture activation, consistent sealing, no hand fatigue on large runs. Available in every commercial size with or without custom printing.

The bottom line on letterhead design

Get the essentials on the page without cluttering it. Choose 24 lb bond for standard use and 28 lb for premium correspondence. Design with the fold lines in mind so nothing important gets creased. Pair the letterhead with a matching printed envelope that carries your brand from the mail pile to the letter. Use window envelopes for any recurring mailing where the document already carries the address. Test everything, paper weight through printer, layout through fold, envelope through window alignment, before committing to a full print run.

A well-executed letterhead and envelope combination tells the recipient something important before they read a word: this organization is professional, consistent, and worth taking seriously.

Frequently asked questions 

What should a business letterhead include?
Company name and logo, full mailing address, primary phone number, email address, and website. Optional: tagline, social media, professional certifications, regulatory disclosures required by your industry. Keep it simple enough that the letterhead frames the letter content rather than competing with it.

What size is standard business letterhead?
8.5 x 11 inches (US Letter size). This is the standard for all US business correspondence. Legal-size letterhead at 8.5 x 14 inches exists but is uncommon and requires larger envelopes or flat-mail formats.

What paper weight should letterhead be printed on?
24 lb bond (90 gsm) is the professional standard that works in most office printers and presents well for client-facing correspondence. 28 lb bond (105 gsm) is the premium choice for law firms, financial advisors, and any organization where paper quality is part of the brand presentation. 20 lb bond is copy paper weight and is appropriate for internal use only.

What envelope goes with a standard 8.5 x 11 letterhead?
A #10 envelope (4.125 x 9.5 inches). A standard letterhead sheet folded in thirds fits cleanly in a #10 with appropriate clearance. For correspondence that must arrive unfolded, use a 9 x 12 catalog envelope.

Should my envelope match my letterhead paper weight?
They do not need to be identical, but they should feel compatible. A 24 lb bond envelope with a 24 lb bond letterhead is a clean match. A 24 lb envelope with a 28 or 32 lb letterhead is also acceptable and is the more common combination in premium stationery programs. Going higher on envelope weight adds postage cost at volume.

How do I avoid design elements getting creased when the letterhead folds?
Draw fold lines on your design file at 3.67 and 7.33 inches from the top of the page. Keep critical design elements, including logos, color bars, and decorative graphics, away from those lines. Elements that cross the fold lines will have permanent crease marks when the letter is folded for mailing. If your design requires full-page elements, mail flat in a 9 x 12 catalog envelope.

Can I print my own letterhead or should I use a commercial printer?
Both work. Printing in-house on a laser printer produces clean results on 24 lb stock. Commercial printing produces more consistent color accuracy, allows for spot color PMS matching, and can handle premium paper weights that some desktop printers cannot. For small volumes and internal use, in-house is practical. For client-facing correspondence and high-volume use, commercial printing is worth the investment.

What file format should I send to my printer for letterhead?
PDF is the standard for commercial printing. Create your file in your design software, convert to PDF with print-quality settings (300 DPI minimum, CMYK color mode, bleed marks if your design runs to the edge). Confirm with your printer before submitting whether they require bleed area and what that margin should be.