Overview: Letterheads are firm-wide design assets used as the background for generated documents in Active Documents. They can be set up and managed from multiple locations: Admin Centre, the Templates page and the Master template editor. Letterheads created in any locations are stored centrally, available for use in merge templates and document generation.
Please refer to the Glossary for definitions of key terms used in this article.
Accessing letterheads
Where you can access and manage letterheads depends on your role in Active Platform. The table below summarises access by method of creation and role.
Method of creation | Document author role only | Administrator role | Administrator and Document author role |
From Admin Centre, navigate to Letterhead page | No access | View only; cannot create, edit or delete | View, create, edit, delete |
From Templates list page, navigate to Letterhead tab | View, create, edit, delete | View only; cannot create, edit or delete | View, create, edit, delete |
From Master template Editor, in the Letterhead section | Can create via dropdown | No access | View, create, edit, delete |
Creating a letterhead
Letterheads created from any method of creation are stored centrally. The letterhead list is consistent across all locations.
Note: Page margins for generated documents are configured in the Master template editor, not in letterhead creation. For more information, refer to the support article: How to create a Master template.
From the Admin Centre
Note: The Document Author role is required to create letterheads. Admin users without this role can view the letterhead list but cannot create new letterheads.
Navigate to the Active Platform home page. Click your name icon and select Admin Centre.
Click Letterhead under the Documents banner to access the Letterhead list page.
To create a new letterhead, click Add Letterhead.
A pop-up will appear with a Name field. Enter a name for the letterhead and click Add. This will open the letterhead creation page.
In the Page Design section, upload the firm’s letterhead design. You can upload an A4 PDF or DOCX file.
Note: Only the first page of the document will be rendered as the letterhead image so ensure the first page of the document contains the letterhead users want to create.
To finalise and store the letterhead in the platform, click Save. The letterhead will appear in the letterhead list and will be available for use in templates and document generation.
From the Templates List
Note: Admin users without the Document Author role and regular users without either role can view the letterhead list here but cannot create new letterheads.
From the Active Platform home page, navigate to the Templates Library by clicking the Active Documents logo.
In the Active Documents homepage, click on the Templates tab to access the Templates Library, then click on Letterhead to open the Letterheads page.
A pop-up will appear with a Name field. Enter a name for the letterhead and click Add. This will open the letterhead creation page.
In the Page Design section, upload the firm’s letterhead design. You can upload an A4 PDF or DOCX file.
Note: Only the first page of the document will be rendered as the letterhead image so ensure the first page of the document contains the letterhead users want to create.
To finalise and store the letterhead in the platform, click Save. The letterhead will appear in the letterhead list and will be available for use in templates and document generation.
From the Master template editor
A letterhead can be created directly from within the Master template editor without leaving the template.
Open an existing Master template in the Template Editor or create a new Master template, if none exists.
Note: For a step-by-step guide on how to create a new master template, refer to the support article: How to create a master template.
Navigate to the Letterhead section in the left-hand panel. In the letterhead dropdown, select New Letterhead.
A pop-up will appear with a Name field and an upload area to upload the letterhead. In the Page Design section, upload the firm’s letterhead design.
Note: Only the first page of the document will be rendered as the letterhead image so ensure the first page of the document contains the letterhead users want to create.
To finalise and store the letterhead in the platform, click Add. Upon adding, the letterhead will appear as an option to select in the Letterhead dropdown for use in the Master template.
Note: Creating a letterhead from the Master template Editor does not navigate you away from the template. Once saved, the modal closes and you can continue editing.
Editing and deleting a letterhead
Navigate to the letterhead list via Admin Centre → Letterhead or Templates List → Letterheads tab.
Click on an existing letterhead to open it.
To update a letterhead design, click Remove Document to remove the existing design.
An upload area will appear for the new file to be uploaded.
Use the Preview button to review the updated design.
Once complete, click Save to apply the changes.
To delete the letterhead, click Delete.
Note: Deleting a letterhead is permanent and cannot be restored. Documents already generated using this letterhead will not be affected, but the letterhead will no longer be available for new documents or templates.