How to add a letterhead to a PDF
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Contents
To add a letterhead to a PDF, open Overlay PDF, add your letter as the base PDF and the letterhead as the overlay PDF, set Layer to Behind content, and apply it. Every page of the letter gets the letterhead, and the letter keeps its page count and page sizes.
The letterhead has to be a PDF itself, usually one page saved from your word processor or design program with the logo, address and footer in place and the rest of the page empty. It is drawn as vector content, not as a picture, so its lines stay sharp and its text stays selectable. Both files are combined in your browser, so neither leaves your device, and each can be up to 100 MB.
Step by step
- 1Open the Overlay PDF tool and drop your letter on the box that says “Drop your PDF here, or”, or click browse to pick it.
- 2In the Overlay PDF section, drop the letterhead on the box that says “Drop the overlay PDF here, or”, or click browse. Its name and page count appear.
- 3Under Placement, set Layer to Behind content, so the letterhead goes under the letter's text, or to Multiply if the letter is a scan. Keep Scale on Fit page, and leave the Opacity slider where it is for a solid letterhead.
- 4Press the button that reads Overlay onto and your page count, such as “Overlay onto 3 pages”.
- 5When “Overlay applied” appears, check the summary and press Download overlaid PDF. letter.pdf is saved as letter-overlay.pdf.
Behind the text, on top, or blended
On top, the setting the tool starts on, paints the letterhead over the page. If the letterhead file has a white page behind its logo, as many exports do, that white covers your letter. Behind content paints it underneath instead, so the letter's text sits on top of it.
A scanned letter is one picture covering the whole page, and that picture hides anything placed behind it. For a scan, choose Multiply: the letterhead is drawn on top, but its white areas drop out, so the page shows through.
Page size and position
The letterhead is always centred on the page; there is no setting to move it. So make the letterhead page the same paper size as your letter, with the logo where you want it on that page. Fit page then lays it exactly over the page.
If the sizes differ, as with an A4 letterhead on a US Letter document, Fit page scales it to fit without stretching and can leave a strip at two edges, Stretch covers the whole page and distorts it slightly, and Actual size keeps it at its own size, cut off where it is larger than the page. Pages stored sideways with a rotation setting still get the letterhead upright.
A letterhead on the first page only
There is no page range: every page of the letter gets a page of the overlay. When the overlay PDF has more than one page, a Multi-page overlay choice appears. First page on all puts its first page everywhere; Cycle pages gives letter page one the overlay's page one, page two its page two, and so on, starting again from the first when the overlay runs out.
So for the first page only, make an overlay PDF with as many pages as the letter, the letterhead on its first page and the rest left empty, and choose Cycle pages. An overlay page with no content at all is skipped, and the result says which; with Behind content or Multiply, an empty white page changes nothing you can see either. If your letterhead is a PNG or JPEG image rather than a PDF, Add Watermark can place an image and limit it to the pages you list.
Common questions
Why does the letterhead hide my letter's text?
Because Layer is set to On top and the letterhead page has a white background. Set Layer to Behind content to put it under the text, or to Multiply to keep it on top while its white areas drop out, which is the choice for a scanned letter.
Can I choose where the letterhead sits on the page?
No. The overlay is always centred. Place the logo and footer where you want them on a letterhead page of the same size as your letter, and Fit page lays that page exactly over each of yours.
My letterhead is a Word file or an image. Can I use it?
Not as it is: the overlay must be a PDF. Save the Word file as a PDF from Word itself, or use Word to PDF, which runs on our secure server, so the file leaves your device for that step. For a PNG or JPEG letterhead, Add Watermark places an image directly, in your browser.
Will the letter's text still be selectable?
Yes. The letter keeps its own text and form fields, and the letterhead is added as vector drawing, so text in both stays selectable. Links inside the letterhead do not work as links in the result.
Are my files sent to a server?
No. Both PDFs are combined in your browser tab, and neither is sent to pdf.xyz.