Create Company Letterhead Using Word 2002

If you create business letters, you can use Microsoft Word 2002 to develop your company's letterhead. Rather than follow the standard format for writing business letters, in which your company's address is listed first, you can use the Header and Footer feature in Word to add company information, including a small logo.

Breaking away from the standard business letter format

In a standard business letter, information is typically left-justified and flows down the page in the following order:

Name (optional) and address of the company that the author is representing
Current date
Recipient's address
Greeting to open the letter, such as "To Whom It May Concern"
Body of the letter, containing two to five paragraphs
Closing remark, such as "Sincerely"
Four lines of space for the author's signature
Author's name
Author's title, such as "Senior Business Manager" (optional)

Alternatively, your business letter format can begin with the date (from number 2 in the list above), and the following company information can reside in the header of your document:

Company name
Company address
Telephone number
Fax number
E-mail address

You can then make your letterhead attractive and format it differently from the rest of your letter. For example, if the body of your letter is in font type Arial in 12pt and the font color is black, you might make the address in your letterhead Arial 8pt and blue. In the footer, you can also add your company's mission statement, logo, or some other important message. See the graphic below.

In the header and footer of your document, enter letterhead information on the first page, such as company address, telephone number, or logo.

Company letterhead

Company message, such as "A. Datum Corporation is an equal opportunity employer."

If your letter runs over the first page, leave the headers on the additional pages blank.

To insert company letterhead on page one only (recommended)

If you have a letter that is longer than one page and you do not want company letterhead to appear on each page, then complete the following steps before you move on to the next procedure.

On the View menu, click Print Layout.
On the File menu, click Page Setup.
On the Layout tab, under Headers and footers, select Different first page.
Click OK.

To insert company letterhead

In Print Layout view, on the View menu, click Header and Footer.
On the Format menu, click Tabs, click Clear All, and then click OK.
Clearing the default tabs set for the header and footer will allow you to insert your letterhead at any .5" interval.
On the Standard toolbar, choose the font type, font size, and font color you want.
Press the TAB key twice, enter the company name, press TAB again, and then enter the company telephone number.
Press the ENTER key to go to the next line, press TAB twice, and then enter the company street number and name.
Note If you have a long street address, you may need to insert two TAB keys of space (a 1.0" interval) rather than one between each block of information in your header.
Press TAB until your insertion point is aligned with the telephone number above, and then enter the company fax number.
Press ENTER, press TAB twice, and then enter the company city, state, and ZIP code.
Press TAB until your insertion point is aligned with the fax number above, and then enter the company e-mail address.
On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Close.

To insert company mission statement or logo in the footer

In Print Layout view, on the View menu, click Header and Footer.
On the Header and Footer toolbar, click the Switch between Header and Footer button.
On the Standard toolbar, choose the font type, font size, and font color you want.
On the Formatting toolbar, choose the alignment option you want.
Enter the company message, mission statement, or logo.
If your letter is longer than one page, on the Header and Footer toolbar, click the Show Next button and enter the company message, mission statement, or logo.
On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Close.

More information

The following templates show standard business writing format, intended for printing on company letterhead or for adding company letterhead using the Header and Footer feature in Word. Simply follow the easy-to-use instructions to download the template.