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In the meantime if you require any company letterhead printing or design please visit our sister website where you can buy your company letterheads at some of the UK's best prices.
Below is some further information on letterheads that may be of use.
What are Company Letterheads?
Company letterheads are simply a piece of paper pre-printed with contact details, legal information and if you have one, your company logo. The majority of company letterheads are printed A4 in size (210mm x 297mm) although occasionally A5 (148mm x 210mm) and other bespoke sizes are sometimes used.
Why do I need a Company Letterhead?
If you ever write to your clients or send them quotes/estimates then you will need to have some form of company letterhead. You can, of course, design them yourself in a word processing program and print them on your office or desktop printer, but will they do the job that you really want them to do? Your company letterhead will often be the first point of contact with a new customer and you need to impress them. Well designed and professionally printed letterheads will convey the right impression of your company to your clients. Does your company need to convey a certain type of image? If you are a solicitor or an accountant you may want your company stationery to portray you as 'established', 'serious' and 'authoritative'; or if you are a florist 'modern' and 'bright'. You need to match your letterhead with both who you are and how you want to be perceived by your potential clients and a professionally designed and printed letterhead will help you achieve this.
What to display on my Company's Letterhead?
As stated by Companies House, there are certain pieces of information that are required to be displayed by law if you are a UK based limited company. The company name must be included, the place of registration, the registered number and the address of the registered office. For example, if your company name is F. Bloggs & Sons Limited but you trade or are mainly known as Bloggs, or your logo only shows part of the name then you must include the full registered name on the letterhead. There is no need to include the names of the directors on the letterhead, however, if you choose to name the directors you must ensure all the directors are named.
If you are trading as a sole trader or partnership under a name other than that of the owner(s), you must display the names of the owner(s) and an address for each. If you use your letterhead as an order form or invoice and you are VAT registered it is also advisable to put your VAT registration number on as well. All this information is typically added in fairly small print at the foot of the letterhead.
How should my Letterheads be printed?
Litho Printed Letterheads
Offset lithography, or litho print is a method of printing used worldwide. Most company letterheads, compliment slips, business cards, flyers, leaflets and other business stationery are printed using offset lithography. This printing technique is widely regarded as the workhorse of printing, because it is fast, efficient and relatively cheap. The 'offset' in the name refers to the fact that the ink is transferred to a separate surface before being applied to the paper.
Litho print has changed hugely in the last few years, modern technology such as computer-to-plate and fast set-up presses mean that the prices have come down, turnaround times are far quicker and quality comes as standard, almost. As with most things you get what you pay for and it's worth paying for professional high quality litho print where possible. You can either have 'CMYK' print which is also known as process or full colour printing or 'spot colour' print (both explained further down). With litho printing you will get consistent high quality print with sharp clean images especially on longer runs, typically over 500 sheets, and the longer the run the cheaper the unit cost will be.
Digitally Printed Letterheads
Company letterheads can also be printed digitally. Digital printing refers to methods of printing from a digital based image directly onto paper or card; it usually refers to short-run jobs where desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using high-volume laser printers. Modern digital printers will print your letterheads quickly and, if you only need a small quantity they can be cheap, but you need to be aware of potential pitfalls.
If you have a laser printer and want to over-print your letterheads yourself you will find that the toner on the letterhead may re-melt, this will show as a repeated image on your letterhead which will spoil not only your letter but your printer as well. You may also find that the printed colours are not exactly what you expected. Digital printing does have its benefits, for example, printing variable data, but it is mainly suited to quick, short runs of a few hundred. As soon as quantities exceed this volume digital printing will have a higher cost per page than the more traditional superior quality of offset printing.
CMYK Printed Letterheads
CMYK print which is also known as process or full colour printing uses four inks - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to produce multi-coloured images. The inks used are translucent and can be overprinted and combined in different proportions to produce a wide range of colours. This means that you can have a full colour logo, picture or background colour printed on to your company letterhead at no extra cost. With CMYK printing, half-toning allows tints of the main ink colours; tiny dots of each ink colour are printed in a pattern small enough that we see a solid colour. For example, magenta printed with a 20% half-tone produces a pink colour, because the eye sees not only the tiny magenta dots, but also the white paper between the dots as a lighter tint or tone of the solid magenta ink. With half-tones a full range of colours can be printed. CMYK printing is by far the most popular and cost effective method for printing letterheads.
Spot Colour Printed Letterheads
Spot colour printing is a method that uses a different ink for each colour. By using a single ink for each colour it is possible to achieve exceptional fidelity between print runs and good matching to either existing printing, or to colours from the Pantone spot colour swatches. Spot colours can be used if a colour needs to be extremely precise. For example, if you need to reproduce a specific colour for a corporate logo or to match an existing piece of printing. As the printing press has to be cleaned for each print run, spot colour printing can work out quite expensive if you have more than two or four colours. Spot colour printing is used for jobs which require no full colour images.
What paper?
Choosing a paper can often be very confusing; there is a huge range of different types and brands of paper available. When selecting paper, be sure to keep in mind that the choice you make for your company letterhead will affect how it is perceived. Paper comes in different weights or thickness, different surface textures or finishes and various colours. Most photocopy paper is 80gsm, your company letterheads should be printed on at least 100gsm and preferably 120gsm. The texture or finish of the paper suitable for letterheads can be Wove or Smooth, Laid, Linen, Contour and Laser.
Wove or smooth speaks for itself, it has a smooth uncoated surface. Laid is a paper made with textured lines on its surface. Linen is similar to the laid finish but the lines are finer and represent the look of a piece of cloth. Contour is a finish that looks as though the paper has been hammered. Laser paper can be smooth or have a subtle texture but is guaranteed to be compatible with laser printers, important if you are going to over-print your letterheads with a laser printer.
What is FSC Certified paper?
Half of the timber harvested world-wide is used to make paper. It is important that everyone involved in this sector makes a commitment to responsible use of the world's resources. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-profit organisation which aims to encourage management of forestry resources in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable way. It also gives options for maximising the use of recycled paper.
The FSC system provides a way of tracking forest products through independently verified Chain of Custody certification. This covers every stage in processing, conversion, distribution and printing before the final product can carry the FSC label. For all the predictions of paperless offices and the increase in electronic communications, paper is still a vital part of everyday business and home life and will be for some time to come.
Ordering your Company Letterheads
As mentioned above we are in the process of having a new website designed, in the meantime if you would like to see our company letterhead price list, place an order, or if you just have a general question please visit our sister website by clicking the following link: Company Letterhead Printing