As the cost of printing professional letterhead continues to climb, one of the frequent questions I receive is “How can we create our own letterhead in our own office?” Most firms use a first page letterhead which contained their name address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail address, etc. Some firms even use picture logos on their letterhead. This can become quite costly as you can imagine. And then you have to consider the second page as well because the paper has to match right? If you are the owner of your own business and are looking to save some money on stationery, you just might be wondering about the best way to to go about creating a letterhead document that you can use as a letterhead template.
The best way to go about this will depend on the orientation of your letterhead. If your letterhead is across the top margin of your first page, then you will take a different approach than if your letterhead is along the entire left margin of your first page.
If your letterhead is across the top margin of the first page, you need to provide a way for the margins to be different on the first page than it is on subsequent pages of your document. This can be done by using section breaks and setting margins differently in each section, but such an approach can lead to unforeseen problems. The best way is to fiddle with the headers in your document to get the spacing you would like.
Follow the steps below to learn how:
- Determine the margins you would like to use on a regular (non-letterhead) piece of paper in your letter.
- Determine the top margin you want used on the first page, to allow for your letterhead.
- Open a new, blank document that will serve as your letterhead template.
- Click the Page Layout tab of your Ribbon.
- In the Page Setup group, click Margins and then click Custom Margins. Word will display the Margins tab of the Page Setup dialog box.
- Change the margin settings to reflect the margins you determined in step 1. (These are the margins for a regular sheet of paper.)
- Display the Layout tab.
- Select Different First Page.
- Make certain the Header and Footer settings are smaller than the top and bottom margins you set in step 6.
- Click on OK.
- Click Enter enough times that you have two pages in your document.
- Click Ctrl+Home to return to the beginning of your document.
- Display the Insert tab of your Ribbon.
- In the Header & Footer group, click Header and choose Edit Header. Word will activate the header area of the page.
- Display the Home tab of your ribbon and click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Paragraph group. Word will display the Paragraph dialog.
- Refer to the first-page margin you determined in step 2 above. From this margin, subtract the header location you set in step 6 above. Assuming the value is in inches, multiply this value by 72 to convert it to points. For instance, if you determined that you need 3.5 inches in step 2, and the header location in step 6 was .75 inches, then the result of the subtraction is 2.75 inches. Multiply 2.75 by 72, and you come up with 198 points.
- Set the After value equal to the value determined in step 16 above.
- Click OK.
- Delete all the paragraphs you entered in step 11 above.
- Save your document as a template.
You can now use your template as the basis for all future letters and the letterhead on the first page is automatically taken care of.
If your company’s letterhead has an orientation along the left margin on the first page, as is the case in many legal firm and academia, then you need to take a different approach for creating your template.
Follow the steps to learn how:
- Determine the margins you would like to use on a regular (non-letterhead) piece of paper in your letter.
- Determine the left margin you would like to use on your first page, to allow for your letterhead.
- Open a new, blank document that will serve as your letterhead template.
- Click the Page Layout tab of your Ribbon.
- in the Page Setup group, click Margins and then click Custom Margins. Word will display the Margins tab of the Page Setup dialog box.
- Change the margin settings to reflect the margins you determined in step 1. (These are the margins for a regular sheet of paper.)
- Display the Layout tab.
- Select the Different First Page check box.
- Be sure your Header and Footer settings are smaller than the top and bottom margins you set in step 6 above.
- Click OK.
- Click Enter enough times that you have two pages in your document.
- Click Ctrl+Home to return to the beginning of the document.
- Display the Insert tab of your Ribbon.
- In the Header & Footer group, click Header and choose Edit Header. Word will activate the header area of your page.
- Display the Insert tab of your Ribbon.
- Click Text Box in the Text group and then choose Draw Text Box. Your cursor will change to a cross hair.
- Use your mouse to draw a text box at the left side of the first page, approximating the width of your letterhead and extending from the header area at the top of the page all the way to the footer area at the bottom.
- Right-click on the outline of your text box, then select Format Text Box from the Context menu. Word will displaythe Format Text Box dialog box.
- Make sure the Colors and Lines tab is displayed.
- Using the Color drop-down list, select No Line.
- Make sure the Size tab is displayed.
- Set the Width value (Absolute) equal to the margin you determined in step 2 above.
- Make sure the Layout tab is displayed.
- Click on Tight and choose the Left horizontal alignment.
- Click the Advanced button. Word will display the Advanced Layout dialog box.
- In the Horizontal Alignment area, the alignment should be set to Left, relative to the Page.
- Click OK to close the Advanced Layout dialog box.
- Click OK to close the Format Text Box dialog box.
- Delete all the paragraphs you entered in step 11 above.
- Save your document as a template.
Since the text box you entered was anchored on the first-page header paragraph, the text box appears only on the first page. The text wraps around it, and your margins appear to return to normal on subsequent pages.