Letterhead Sizes: Letter, A4, and Legal Specs for Word
By the WordLetterhead Team · Last updated:
Letterhead sizes, settled in one table: US Letter is 8.5 × 11 inches, A4 is 210 × 297 millimeters, Legal is 8.5 × 14 inches — and for crisp printing, the artwork wants about 300 DPI at that size.
What size should a letterhead be?
The size of the paper it will be printed on. US Letter rules the United States and Canada; A4 rules nearly everywhere else; Legal appears in US legal and government paperwork. The design and the Word page must agree on one size — a mismatch shows up as stretched artwork or unexpected white strips.
| Size | Inches | Millimeters | Pixels at 300 DPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Letter | 8.5 × 11 in | 215.9 × 279.4 mm | 2550 × 3300 px |
| A4 | 8.27 × 11.69 in | 210 × 297 mm | 2480 × 3508 px |
| Legal | 8.5 × 14 in | 215.9 × 355.6 mm | 2550 × 4200 px |
What resolution does letterhead artwork need?
300 DPI at the printed size is the target — that’s the pixel column in the table above. 150 DPI is the floor below which edges visibly soften on paper. WordLetterhead checks this for you: upload the file and a warning appears if the artwork lands under 150 DPI, before any money changes hands.
A PDF export usually carries the artwork at full quality; a JPG or PNG needs enough pixels — the details are in using a JPG or PNG letterhead in Word.
How do I get my size into Word?
Pick it once and the file is built around it. Letter, A4, Legal, and custom sizes are all available, and no size costs more than another:
- Upload your letterhead design — PDF, PNG, or JPG.
- Choose the page size and drag the typing area into place.
- Download the .docx — margins and page size are set.
Fit or stretch options handle small mismatches between artwork and page. For how the letterhead itself behaves once it’s in Word, see every method compared.
If the same letterhead has to live in more than one standard — a US client on Letter, a European one on A4 — that is two files, not one file resized. Stretch will carry a single rebuild across that gap, as above; but two originals you keep and reuse for years are worth drawing at their own proportions rather than nudging one file twice. The builder takes up to three paper sizes in one order, each from its own artwork.
Common questions
- My design is US Letter but the office prints on A4. What now?
- Build the Word file at the size the office actually prints. Upload the same design, pick A4, and use fit or stretch to reconcile the small proportional difference — a two-minute rebuild beats letters with clipped or stretched artwork.
- Can I get a custom page size, not just the standard three?
- Yes — custom sizes are supported alongside Letter, A4, and Legal, and a custom size costs no more than a standard one: $9 for a single letterhead, whichever size you pick. The typing area you drag becomes the margins for whatever size you choose.
- Does letterhead behave differently in Word at different sizes?
- No. The header mechanics are identical at every page size — the artwork locks the same way, repeats on every page the same way, and prints by default the same way.
- What if my artwork’s proportions don’t match the page exactly?
- Choose fit to keep every pixel of the design visible with small margins of page showing, or stretch to fill the page edge to edge. For near-miss mismatches — Letter artwork on A4, say — stretch is usually invisible; the preview shows you both before you decide.