How to Create a Company Letterhead

Create your own letterhead.

Whether you are a company employee or an individual who works for himself, you can design a letterhead that will stand out in a pile of mail. Letterheads are the graphics and business contact information found at the top--and sometimes the bottom--of business letters. They give recipients a sense you are a professional take your work seriously. It's easy to make attractive letterhead; you just need to get acquainted with your word processing program.

Instructions

1. Open a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice, which you can download for free (see Resources). You can also open a more basic program such as "Word Pad," which is located in the Accessories folder in Windows.

2. Click "Insert" and select "Header" in Microsoft Word 2007. A box will appear at the top of the page where you can enter the letterhead information. If you have a graphic for your company's logo, go to "Insert" > "Picture" and locate it on the computer. Resize it by dragging the corners. If you like, add the company slogan or other information, such as the year the company was founded.

3. Click "Page Layout" > "Margins" > "Custom Margins..." > "Apply to: This section" and change the side margins for the header to .75 inches to give you more space. Include a picture if you like and change the font type and size so it stands out. Use "Insert" > "Text Box" to place text wherever you want. Leave an even amount of space between your elements to keep it looking neat.

4. Click on "Insert" > "Footer" to go to the space at the bottom of the page. Type in the street address, phone and fax numbers, and even hours of operation--if applicable. Choose the font size of "10 pt" and keep the lettering plain. Add a graphic at the bottom if you want.

5. Go to "File" > "Save As" and choose to save it as a template, so that you can open this file and type out a new letter each time. If your program doesn't allow templates, you can simply select "Save As" to keep the original intact.

References

• Productivity Portfolio: Create a Letterhead Template with Word
• WindowsDevCenter: Create a Letterhead Using OpenOffice.org Writer

Resources

• OpenOffice.org: The Free and Open Productivity Suite