Custom Carbon Copy Letterheads

Laying Out a Letterhead That Copies Cleanly

The printed heading appears on every sheet, so your logo, company name, address, phone number and registration details are printed on all parts. What copies through is only the handwriting, which is the difference between a letterhead and the boxed layout of a printed carbonless form. That means the space you leave for writing matters more than it does on ordinary letterhead paper.

Keep the heading compact so the writing area is generous. A band at the top no deeper than about 45 mm works well on A4, leaving room for a reference line, date, recipient and several paragraphs. Some customers add faint ruled lines to help keep handwriting straight, which is particularly helpful when people write on a clipboard rather than a desk.

Footers are useful for small print such as company number, VAT number and terms. Place them at least 10 mm from the bottom edge so they are not lost when the sheet is torn off the pad.

If your team uses the same phrases every visit, such as a standard paragraph about payment terms, it can be printed lightly near the foot of the page so nobody has to write it out by hand each time.

Custom Carbon Copy Letterheads as Pads, Sets or Books

Carbon copy letterheads can be supplied in three main formats. Loose sets are glued along the top edge and come boxed, so you take one set at a time and slip it onto a clipboard; books with a stub work like our multi-part carbonless form books. Pads hold a stack of sets glued at the head with a card back, which gives a firm surface for writing on your knee.

Books bind the sets with a cover and a stub so the copy stays in the book while the top sheet tears out along a perforation. Books are ideal when the record needs to stay together in order, for example if you number every letter and need to show none are missing.

Paper Sizes and Print Options

A4 is the natural size for letters and is what most customers choose. A5 suits shorter notes such as delivery confirmations or a brief site report, and the same heading can be carried onto plain single-sheet printed letterheads for typed correspondence. We can also produce custom widths for businesses that file copies in a particular binder.

The heading can be printed in one colour, typically black or a single brand colour, or in full colour if your logo depends on several shades. One colour is the most economical and reads well on the tinted copy sheets. Full colour on the top sheet with a single colour on the copies is another option if you want the customer copy to look its best.

• Sequential numbering in red or black on every set
• Perforations for clean tear-off
• Drilled holes for ring binders
• Wrap-around writing shields to stop copying through to the next set

Getting the Most from Your Copies

Copy quality depends on pressure, and a stiff card back of the kind used on our card-backed printed notepads helps when writing without a desk. A ballpoint pen pressed firmly gives the clearest image through three parts; felt tips and gel pens often do not copy well at all. If several staff use the sets, a quick word about pen choice saves a lot of faint, unreadable office copies later on.

Always slide a writing shield or a piece of card under the set you are using. Without it, the pressure of your pen will mark the set below as well, and a stack of pads can end up with ghost writing several layers deep. We can supply a printed card shield with your pads if that helps your team.

NCR paper is sensitive to heat and strong light over long periods, so file copies in a folder or drawer rather than pinned to a sunny noticeboard.

Decide Who Keeps Each Copy Before You Fix the Number of Parts

The number of parts in a carbon copy letterhead should come from a simple question: who keeps a copy? If the customer keeps the top sheet and the office files one, a 2-part set is enough. Add a part for a site file or an accounts copy, but stop at three unless the fourth copy will really be read, because the bottom sheet fades with every layer. Label each part on the proof, Customer Copy, Office Copy and so on, and decide whether sets need sequential numbers so copies can be matched to invoices later.

Send your logo and details, the paper size, the part count and the format you want, and a custom quote comes back by email within one working day with minimums quoted per job. The free design proof shows the heading and any numbering on every part. Production takes 4 to 7 working days once approved and the pads or sets reach UK mainland addresses on free tracked delivery in 2 to 3 working days. Businesses that also raise job sheets usually print a matching carbonless order form at the same time.