How We Print Letter Headed Paper

As a team, we at Pemberly Fox have more than 50 years of combined experience in the printing industry and even we can get trumped by a specific request. We could tell you stories of jobs going wrong and last-minute dashes to save a wedding order but then every business has their tale of woe to tell, so instead we thought we would start with the basics of what we print and how we print.

First things first; what are letterheads and are they still relevant?

You would probably think that this form of communication is becoming extinct and if we did not work in this industry, we would probably agree with you. However, because we are printers we would argue differently, in fact we would go so far as to say that they are becoming more important than ever.

Letterheads are a quintessential element of professional communication, embodying the essence of a business’s identity. In the realm of luxury printing, we believe that letterheads stand as a tangible representation of craftsmanship and attention to detail. These carefully designed sheets of paper bear the distinctive insignia, logo, and contact information of a company, serving as a visual ambassador for its brand.

Beyond a mere vehicle for correspondence, letterheads elevate the act of communication to an art form. For us the detail that our clients go into is extraordinary, for example: The choice of premium paper, choice of printing techniques, and thoughtful design converge to convey a sense of sophistication and refinement. In the hands of a luxury printing business, each letterhead becomes a unique canvas, capturing the ethos of the brand it represents.

Beyond the aesthetic allure, letterheads play a practical role by establishing a consistent and professional image in business exchanges. They serve as a tangible embodiment of a company’s commitment to quality and excellence, making a lasting impression on recipients. In essence, letterheads transcend their utilitarian function, emerging as a powerful expression of a brand’s identity and commitment to unparalleled craftsmanship.

Ok, so we have understood what a Letterhead is but what is the difference between personalised writing paper and a letterhead?

While both personalised writing paper and letterheads share the common ground of customized stationery, they serve distinct purposes in the realm of communication. Personalized writing paper is a more versatile medium, often used for personal correspondence or informal communication. It embodies an individual’s unique style and personality, featuring personalized designs, monograms, or motifs that reflect the sender’s taste. This type of stationery offers a more intimate and creative outlet for self-expression and we often that as much consideration is applied to the design process of these items as businesses consider for their corporate correspondence.

On the other hand, as we have seen above, letterheads are purpose-built for professional and corporate communication. They are a specific category of stationery representing an organization’s brand identity, so no dissimilar to a person’s identity being their brand, if that makes sense? Letterheads typically feature a company’s logo, contact details, and other essential information, presenting a cohesive and standardized image in business correspondence. Unlike personalized writing paper, letterheads prioritize a uniform and formal aesthetic, aligning with the professional identity of the business. In essence, while personalized writing paper caters to individual expression, letterheads are emblematic tools tailored for businesses to convey a consistent, polished image in their official communications.

What are the main components one should think about when it comes to designing a letterhead?

with custom letterhead design and printing, we think that one of the most important factors is the paper choice; you don’t want the paper to be too thin, therefore appearing cheap, nor too thick which tends to give the impression that you are trying to prove something. Our preferred paper choice comes from the Colorplan range because they offer a weighty, slightly textured, 135gsm paper choice and also offer it in 52 colours. That’s not to say that you are specifically looking for colourful options but it gives you a good starting point, especially as they all of the shades of white and other colours have matching DL envelopes for an A4 Letterhead.

Following this we would want to discuss with you the various print methods available and their related prices and, more often than not, we will guide you on the print process which we think will best suit your design requirements. One of the questions we will have for you is to establish your intended use of the letterheads, as some print processes do not lend themselves to being passed through heat intensive office printers.

What happens when we have made some choices with regards to paper and usage?

We will then set to work, using your business assets such as logo, tag line and business contact details to put together some pdf proofs for you to review. We will work with you to adjust the letterhead setting until you are completely satisfied with its appearance. It is worth pointing out that we highly recommend that you print out the pdfs as these will give you a better sense of scale and placing.

Can we see a physical sample before you print all of our letterheads?

We are more than happy to send you samples of paper, envelopes and previous examples of work that we have carried out to help you in your initial choices. When it comes to actually printing a sample it is worth bearing in mind that, for example, letterhead printing with embossing and foiling uses traditional print techniques. This means that the major part of the cost is in the setting up of the machines, engraving and commissioning the foil blocks and copper plates and therefore producing a single proof is not an economical process and we would ask you to trust us to produce an item which you will be happy with. If we are using more technologically flexible digital methods for printint then producing a sample is far more economical.

There is an element of trust, like in all business relationships, whereby we you gives us the approval to proceed to print in the knowledge that we have produced similar orders to to budget, on time and always offer to re-print them for you in the event that they do not meet your expectations.