Letterhead handoff: deliver the Word file too
Finish the letterhead handoff with a Word .docx the client can actually type into — not just the print PDF you sent to the printer.
The week-after-handoff email
A designer ships the brand package on a Friday. The print PDF is in the deliverables folder, the logo files are exported, the color swatches are right. The handoff call is calm and the invoice is paid.
The next Wednesday, the client emails: this is great, but we cannot type on the letterhead PDF — can you send us a Word version?
The question is reasonable and the answer is awkward. A print PDF was never meant to be typed in. Producing a real Word version means either rebuilding the letterhead inside Word in substitute fonts and floating text boxes, which undoes the typography choices the project was about, or telling the client to use a free PDF-to-Word converter that will produce a mess. Either way the handoff that felt complete on Friday is suddenly not complete on Wednesday, and the part the client is now stuck on is the part they need most.
Add the Word file to the handoff
Letterhead Lab makes the Word version a step in the handoff rather than an afterthought a week later. Run the print PDF through the converter; a .docx comes back with the letterhead set into Word’s header and footer — in a file the client can write a letter in.
It takes a couple of minutes per letterhead. Drop the resulting file into the deliverables folder alongside the logo exports and the print PDF, and the brand package is genuinely finished. The Wednesday email does not happen; the client opens the Word file, types, and gets to the value of the identity work without a side quest.
For a clean handoff, the Multi-page bundle is the right tier — it adds a .dotx template so the client opens a fresh copy each time and cannot save over the master the studio delivered. It also delivers both A4 and US Letter when the brand spans regions. A single conversion is $19 and a bundle is $49; either is a small line on the project. The studio version of this conversation, including a branded converter the client uses under the studio’s name on a recurring basis, lives on the design agencies page.
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Frequently asked questions
- Do I need to charge extra for the Word file?
- That is your call. Many studios fold it into the project as a small line on the brand-package invoice; others include it without listing it separately and treat it as part of a complete handoff.
- What do I hand the client — the .docx, the .dotx, or both?
- Both, when you take the Multi-page bundle. The .docx is for one-off letters; the .dotx is the template clients open when they want a fresh copy every time without risk of overwriting the master.
- Will the client need to install anything?
- No. The file is a standard Word document. Microsoft Word on Mac, Windows, web, or iPad opens it and keeps the artwork in the header and footer.
- What if the client later changes printers?
- The Word file is independent of the print shop — it is built from the same artwork PDF, not tied to a specific press. A new printer uses the same print PDF; the client keeps using the same Word file.
- Is the client's print PDF uploaded anywhere?
- No. The conversion runs in the browser. Nothing about the brand work leaves your machine during conversion.
Try it on your letterhead
Free preview — the PDF stays in your browser. Pay only when you download.