Letterheads

A letterhead, being an integral part of office workflow, can look different depending on the priority of the tasks:
image impact – this is the logo, the slogans, the overall look of the letterhead: the material it is made of, special printing techniques;
a protective function against forgery of the letterhead itself; cost.

It is worth noting that an organisation may have several types of letterheads: a «budget» version and one with higher requirements for the look and quality of the material it is made of.

Below we will look at various configurations of letterhead types based on production technologies.

Colour.
Letterheads can be produced on different materials, with different inks and using different technologies. The colour can be black and white, full colour (4-colour), or colour with Pantone inks (an individual colour that cannot be achieved by the full-colour method).

Type of printing.
The digital printing method makes it possible to produce a small print run in a short time (500 copies in 10 minutes, on ordinary office paper); the price may be higher than for 1000 copies in offset printing, but deadlines are sometimes more important. This type of printing can be either colour or black and white.
Offset printing makes it possible to obtain high-quality products in large print runs and various colours. It is used for black and white printing, colour printing and Pantone printing. Optimal print run: from 1000 copies.
Silk-screen printing is used mainly to achieve a slight raised effect for text and graphic elements. As a rule, unusual (designer) paper is used to emphasise the company's image. This type of printing is not cheap. Colours can be selected individually, but each object (text, graphics) can be only one colour (without gradients).

Materials.
Most often, standard «office» paper with a density of 80 grams per square metre is used for letterheads; paper with an increased density of up to 100 grams is also popular. To add a touch of exclusivity, designer paper types are used, which differ in colour, density and texture (ribbed with various patterns, such as linen, hammer, etc.).

Security and image.
Numbering.
If required, after printing, an individual number is applied to each letterhead on the front or back. This service is performed as a separate process and increases both the production time and the cost. For large print runs, numbering is done on special machines at high speed; for small ones, with a manual numbering device.