Custom Letterhead Printing — A4 Branded Letterheads

A professionally printed letterhead does more than display your logo. It has to pass through office printers without jamming, accept a signature without smudging, carry your legal company information correctly, and still leave enough white space for the document itself. That's why choosing the right stock and print method matters just as much as the design — and it's why we'd rather explain both than just sell you a sheet of paper.

Letterheads are the centrepiece of any company stationery set, unifying every document you send under one brand. Our custom letterhead printing gives you A4 headed paper on premium uncoated stock, printed in London and delivered across the UK.

Choose your stock, print sides and quantity above, upload your PDF or send it later, and add to basket. 

✓ Printed in London ✓ A4 headed paper ✓ Premium uncoated stock ✓ Single or double sided ✓ Litho or digital ✓ From £32.28 ✓ UK-wide delivery

Trusted by UK businesses and professional firms for their branded stationery.

Why order your business letterheads with us

• The centrepiece of your corporate stationery — one consistent brand across every letter, quote, invoice and contract.
• Premium uncoated stock — chosen because it takes pen ink cleanly and feeds reliably; a coated sheet does neither.
• Litho or digital, matched to your run — and we'll tell you plainly which your office printer can handle.
• Single or double sided — branding on the front, terms or continuation design on the back.
• Free artwork check before we print — we review your PDF so your layout works as a real document.
• London printed, delivered UK-wide — produced in Croydon and sent across the UK.

Letterhead specifications

Will your letterheads work in your office printer?

This is the single most important thing to know before ordering, and most suppliers never mention it.

Why can't digitally printed letterheads go through a laser printer?

Here's the part nobody explains, and it's genuinely interesting once you know it.

Digital printing uses toner, which is fused to the paper with heat. When you then feed that sheet through a laser printer, it passes through a fuser unit that applies heat again — and that heat can soften the original toner a second time. The result can be smudging, offsetting onto the printer's rollers, or in the worst case toner transferring inside the machine.

Lithographic printing uses ink, not toner. Litho ink is absorbed into the paper fibres and cures there. It isn't heat-fused, so it doesn't re-soften when it passes through a laser printer's fuser — which is exactly why litho letterheads are safe for both laser and inkjet.

So the rule is simple: if your letterheads will go through an office laser printer, you need litho — which means ordering over 2,500. If you'll use an inkjet, or write on them by hand, any quantity works.

We'd rather tell you this upfront than have a box of letterheads you can't use.

Which paper is best for business letterhead printing?

All three of our letterhead stocks are uncoated, and that's a deliberate production choice, not a cost one.

Why uncoated? A coated sheet has a sealed surface — ink from a pen sits on top of it rather than absorbing, so signatures smudge and take an age to dry. Uncoated paper has an open fibre surface that drinks ink in. For a document that gets signed, annotated and handled, uncoated is simply the right material. It also feeds more predictably through office printers, because it has more surface friction for the rollers to grip.

Why weight matters more than you'd think:

An honest word about 170gsm. It feels superb, and for a proposal cover or a contract front sheet it's the right call. But heavier stock doesn't feed through every office printer — many desktop machines have a paper-path bend and a weight limit that heavier sheets struggle with, causing misfeeds or jams. Check your printer's maximum paper weight before ordering 170gsm if you intend to run it through the machine yourself. If it's for hand-signed documents or covers, weight is a pure win.

The trade practice worth copying: many established firms order two weights — 170gsm for the first page of a proposal or contract, and 90gsm or 120gsm as continuation sheets for the pages that follow. It costs little and makes multi-page documents feel deliberate.

Should business letterheads be single or double sided?

Single sided is the classic: branding, logo and contact details on the front, blank on the reverse for your letter.

Double sided puts the back of the sheet to work — terms and conditions, accreditations and memberships, or a company registration footer. For professional firms sending contracts and official business documents, pre-printed terms on the reverse saves a separate sheet every single time. It's a small efficiency that adds up across a year of correspondence.

One production point: on lighter stock, a heavy solid colour on the reverse can show through slightly on the front. If you're printing double sided with a dark or full-coverage back, step up to 120gsm or 170gsm to keep the front clean.

What is the standard letterhead size?

The standard letterhead size in the UK — and across Europe — is A4: 210 × 297mm. It's the same size as standard office paper, which is exactly the point: your headed paper needs to feed through a printer, fit standard filing, and fold neatly into a DL envelope. That's why A4 is the universal business standard and the size we print.

(The US equivalent is "Letter" at 8.5 × 11 inches — slightly wider and shorter. Worth knowing if you correspond internationally, though A4 is standard for UK and European business stationery.)

For artwork, supply your file at 216 × 303mm — A4 plus 3mm bleed on all sides.

How to design a professional business letterhead

A letterhead has to look good and function as a printable document. Here's what we'd advise before you send artwork.

• Leave the body area clear. Your text gets typed into the middle. Keep branding to the header and footer, and leave generous white space for the document itself.
• Respect the printer's unprintable margin. Office printers physically can't print to the sheet edge. Don't design assuming your Word template can — keep typed content well within.
• Header and footer, not full-page graphics. A full-bleed background may look striking, but it fights the letter, burns toner, and can cause feed issues on your own printer.
• Put the legal detail in the footer. Company registration number, VAT number, registered office address and any accreditations belong in a small, tidy footer strip — and for limited companies, some of that information is a legal requirement on business correspondence.
• Design for the continuation sheet too. If you send multi-page documents, a lighter continuation design (logo only, no full contact block) keeps pages two onward clean.
• Test your Word template against it. Set your document margins so typed text lands cleanly in the clear area you designed.

Who orders custom letterheads?

• Professional services — solicitors, accountants and consultants sending contracts and formal advice.
• Small businesses and startups — quotes and invoices that look established from day one.
• Clinics and practices — patient letters and referrals on properly branded office stationery.
• Schools and charities — official correspondence and funding letters.
• Agencies and studios — proposals and client documents that reflect the brand they're selling.
• Tradespeople and contractors — quotes and invoices that get taken seriously.

How to store your letterheads so they stay printable

Nobody mentions this, and it's the reason a perfectly good box of headed paper sometimes misbehaves months later.

Paper is hygroscopic — it absorbs and releases moisture from the air. A sheet that sits in a damp stockroom takes on moisture; one that sits near a radiator dries out. Either way, the sheet changes shape slightly at the edges, and that's what causes curl — which is the number one cause of misfeeds and jams when you eventually run those letterheads through your printer.

So: store unused letterheads flat, in their original packaging, away from humidity, direct sunlight and heat sources. Keep the ream wrapped until you need it. It takes no effort and it's the difference between paper that feeds perfectly in month six and paper that fights your printer.

Getting your artwork right for letterhead printing

Why does 300 dpi actually matter?

Because below 300 dpi, fine text and logo detail begin to soften noticeably once reproduced commercially — and it shows most on a letterhead, where a crisp logo and small footer text are the whole job. A logo that looks sharp on a screen at 72 or 150 dpi has far less image data than the press can resolve, so edges go slightly fuzzy and small type loses its definition. It's especially visible on lithographic presses, which are capable of reproducing far finer detail than a low-resolution file can supply. Always export from the original vector or high-resolution source, not from a website image.

Before we print: every letterhead is checked

Before your letterheads go to press, our production team checks your file for resolution, the 216 × 303mm bleed size, safe margins and CMYK colour.

The issue we see most is a letterhead designed with no thought for the letter that goes on it — branding filling the page, leaving nowhere for typed content, or a footer sitting where an office printer physically can't reach. We flag both before printing, because a beautiful letterhead you can't actually write a letter on is no use to anyone.

How to order your letterheads

1. Choose your specification above — stock, single or double sided, and quantity (from 100). Remember: over 2,500 for litho if you'll use a laser printer.
2. Supply your artwork — upload your PDF now, or choose "send it later" for an upload link after checkout.
3. We check before printing — resolution, bleed, colour and layout.
4. We print and deliver — in 1 or 3–4 working days, or express, across London and the UK.

Every file is manually checked before production. If we find a low-resolution logo, missing bleed or a layout problem, we'll contact you before printing — so your letterheads come out right first time.

Need your letterhead designed? Our artwork design service can create print-ready headed paper, and our logo design service can build the brand it carries. Completing your stationery set? Letterheads work best alongside matching compliment slips, business cards, envelopes and presentation folders — browse the full business stationery range.

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard letterhead size?

The standard letterhead size in the UK and Europe is A4 — 210 × 297mm — the same as standard office paper. That's deliberate: it feeds through office printers, fits standard filing, and folds into a DL envelope. For artwork, supply your file at 216 × 303mm to include 3mm bleed.

Can I print my letterheads on a laser printer?

It depends on quantity. Orders over 2,500 are printed lithographically and are safe for inkjet and laser printers. Orders of 2,500 or below are printed digitally and should only be run through inkjet printers, because a laser printer's fuser reheats the toner and can cause smudging.

Why can't digitally printed letterheads go through a laser printer?

Digital printing fuses toner to the sheet with heat. A laser printer applies heat again through its fuser, which can re-soften that toner and cause smudging or transfer inside the machine. Lithographic ink is absorbed and cured into the paper fibres instead, so it doesn't re-soften — which is why litho letterheads are laser-safe.

Which paper weight is best for letterheads?

90gsm feeds through office printers like normal copier paper and suits everyday correspondence; 120gsm is the quality all-rounder; 170gsm feels premium and is ideal for contracts and proposals. If you'll run them through your own printer, check its maximum paper weight before choosing 170gsm — heavier stock doesn't feed through every machine.

Why are letterheads printed on uncoated paper?

Because uncoated paper absorbs pen ink rather than letting it sit on the surface — so signatures dry cleanly instead of smudging. It also has more surface friction, which helps it feed reliably through office printers. A coated, glossy sheet fails at both, which is why it's not used for headed paper.

How much does custom letterhead printing cost?

Our A4 letterheads start from £32.28 (excluding VAT), with the per-sheet price improving as quantity increases. The final price depends on stock, print sides and quantity. Note that orders over 2,500 are printed litho — worth factoring in if you need laser-printer compatibility.

Should business letterheads be single or double sided?

Single sided is the classic — branding front, blank reverse for your letter. Double sided uses the back for terms and conditions, accreditations or a company registration footer, saving a separate sheet on formal documents. If printing a dark solid on the reverse, choose a heavier stock to avoid show-through.

How should I store my letterheads?

Store them flat, in their original packaging, away from humidity, heat and direct sunlight. Paper absorbs moisture from the air, and that's what causes curling at the edges — the main cause of misfeeds when you later run the sheets through a printer. Keep the ream wrapped until you need it.

Why does artwork need to be 300 dpi?

Below 300 dpi, fine text and logo detail soften noticeably once printed commercially — and it shows most on a letterhead, where a crisp logo and small footer text are the whole point. Always export from the original vector or high-resolution source rather than a website image.

Do you print custom letterheads in London and across the UK?

Yes. We're a commercial printer based in Croydon, South London, printing branded letterheads and company stationery for businesses and professional firms across London and delivering UK-wide. Order online, upload your artwork, and we'll print and dispatch your letterheads.