Step by step to create a letterhead template in Word

Creating a personalized letterhead template in Microsoft Word is an essential skill for enhancing your professional communications. This guide will walk you through the process of designing and saving a custom letterhead, ensuring your business correspondence stands out.

What is letterhead and why is it important?

What elements make up a letterhead?

How to create a letterhead template?

• Using Header and Footer
• Using Shapes and Pictures

How to save a template?

How to use your personal template?

How to find your template folder?

Video: Letterhead Template

What is letterhead and why is it important?

What is letterhead

A letterhead is a printed heading on the top of any document or stationery that typically includes a business's logo, company name, address, and contact information. It may also contain a legal disclaimer or a corporate design that reflects the brand’s identity.

Letterheads are important for several reasons:

• Professionalism: The use of a letterhead conveys professionalism and establishes credibility, making documents appear more formal and official.
• Brand Recognition: Consistently using a well-designed letterhead helps in building brand identity. It makes every document immediately identifiable, reinforcing brand awareness.
• Legal Compliance: For certain businesses, including specific information in the letterhead, such as company registration numbers or regulatory body information, is a legal requirement.
• Marketing Tool: Besides communication, a letterhead serves as an opportunity to market the company and its values indirectly. It is a touchpoint that leaves an impression on whoever reads the document.
• Corporate Unity: It standardizes correspondence across an organization, ensuring that all communications are unified in appearance, which supports organizational unity and professionalism.

Thus, a letterhead is not just a design element but a crucial part of business communication that underpins the professionalism and brand identity of a company.

What elements make up a letterhead?

A professional letterhead typically includes the following elements:

• Logo: A visual representation of your brand.
• Company Name: Clearly displayed and stylized to reflect your brand identity.
• Contact Information: Address, phone number, email, and sometimes a website URL.
• Legal Information: Any necessary legal text or disclaimers, depending on your business requirements.
• Social Media Address: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube….

How to create a letterhead template?

Creating a letterhead involves several steps, each allowing customization to fit your brand’s identity.

Using Header and Footer

Step 1. Open a new document in Word

Step 2. Insert header

Navigate to Insert tab, and click Header dropdown, choose a design that fits your style, in this case, we choose Blank.

You have entered the edit mode of the header.

Step 3. Insert your logo and the essential information you want to show in the header

Insert and resize the logo

Insert your logo by going to the Header & Footer tab, and selecting Pictures, and locate a folder to choose your logo, then click Insert button to insert it.

Then resize and position it appropriately within the header.

Type your company name and contact information

Add your company name and contact information.

(Optional) Step 4. Add a footer to show some information

If you want to show more information, you also can insert a footer to display it.

Select Insert > Footer > Blank, then type the contents or insert the graphics you need.

A simple letterhead template has been created.

If you have an image designed for the header which includes the company logo and necessary information, you can directly import it to the header like this:

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Using Shapes and Pictures

To enhance the visual appeal of your letterhead template, consider adding colorful shapes and images.

Step 1. Open a new document

Step 2. Show the header line

Double-click at the top of the document to show the header line.

Step 3. Draw shapes

Click the Insert tab, and go to the Shapes dropdown, choose the shapes you want.

Then draw, locate, and resize them.

Step 4. Insert Logo

1. Click Insert tab, select Text Box > Simple Text Box.

   

2. Then remove the contents in the textbox, and make sure the cursor is in it.

   

3. Click Insert > Pictures > This Device, and select a logo image from a folder, click Insert button.

   

   

4. Then format the text box border by clicking on it and go to the Shape Format tab, clicking Shape Outline dropdown, then choosing No Outline.

   

Step 5. Add company information

Also, add a textbox to place the company information. For formatting the text, select them and go to the Home tab, and customize them in the Font group as you need.

(Optional) Step 6. Design Footer

If you have some information such as social media, you can add them to the footer area.

1. Click Insert > Text Box > Simple Text Box, draw the textbox, and remove the contents in the textbox.

2. Keep cursor within the textbox, then click Insert > Pictures > Online Pictures, and search the pictures you want and click Insert to insert it.

   

   

   

3. Repeat above step to insert the images as you need.

   

4. Remove the textbox outline.

Now the letterhead template is created.

How to save a template?

Once your letterhead design is complete, please save it to a template by following steps below:

Step 1. Go to File > Save As > Browse

Step 2. Name the template and choose Word Template (*.dotx) from the dropdown menu under Save as type

After you define the file name and type, it will automatically switch to the default folder where Office custom templates are stored.

Step 3. Click Save button

How to use your personal template?

For using your own created template, please do as these:

Step 1. Open Word and select File > New

Step 2. Click on Personal in the right section to see your saved templates, select one as you need

How to find your template folder?

If you need to locate or manage your templates, do as these:

Step 1. Go to File > Options

Step 2. In the Word Options dialog box, select Save

Step 3. Under Save documents, look for the path listed in the Default personal templates location

This is where your templates are stored.

Creating a customized letterhead template in Word not only brands your business correspondence but also adds a level of professionalism that sets you apart. By following these detailed steps, you can efficiently design, save, and utilize a letterhead that reflects your business identity.

For additional transformative Word strategies that can significantly enhance your data management, explore further here.