Plenty of documents are made without the letterhead: exported from accounting software, generated by a web app, or written in a plain template. Instead of rebuilding them, you can place your letterhead behind the finished PDF, exactly as if it had been printed on pre-printed company paper.
What you need
Two PDFs: the document, and the letterhead itself. The letterhead PDF holds only the stationery — logo, address block, footer, background artwork — with the body of the page left empty. Word and most design tools can make one: open your letterhead template, delete the body text, and save or export it as PDF. Image files aren't accepted directly, so convert a PNG or JPG letterhead to PDF first.
Use the same page size as the document, usually A4 or US Letter. A letterhead of a different size is scaled to fit the page with its proportions kept, which can leave a margin around it.
Order matters
In the Letterhead tool, file 01 is always the document and file 02 is the letterhead. If they went in the wrong way round, swap them in the list before you run it.
Behind or on top
Behind content is the classic letterhead: the stationery sits underneath and your text prints over it. Use it for logos, address blocks and light background designs. On top of content places the second file over the page instead — useful for stamps, COPY or DRAFT marks, or anything that must stay visible.
If the document's pages have a solid white background, as scans and some exports do, a letterhead behind them will be hidden. Use On top of content in that case, with a letterhead whose background is transparent.
A different first page
Business letters often carry the full letterhead on page one and a lighter continuation design — a small logo or just a footer — on the pages after it. Make a two-page letterhead PDF with the full design on page 1 and the continuation on page 2, then tick Different first page. Page 1 of the letterhead goes on the document's first page and page 2 on every page after it. Without that option, the first page of the letterhead is used on every page.
The tool runs on our servers. Both files are deleted two hours after upload, or straight away when you choose Delete my files from the server now.
Step by step
- Prepare the letterhead PDF — Export your letterhead with the body area empty, at the same page size as your document.
- Add both files — Open Letterhead and add the document first, the letterhead second.
- Choose the layer — Keep Behind content for stationery, or pick On top of content for stamps. Tick Different first page for a two-page letterhead.
- Download — Download the finished PDF.