How To Create An Envelope In Indesign

Customize our handy starter file to create unique letterhead and envelope designs.

Letterhead and envelope designs are shown for Studio Iconic

What you'll need

This sample file is an Adobe Stock asset you can use to practice what you learn in this tutorial. If you want to use the sample file beyond this tutorial, you can purchase a license on Adobe Stock. Check out the ReadMe file in the folder for the terms that apply to your use of this sample file.

Download and open the sample file, letterhead-design_START.indd.

You're viewing the letterhead on page 1. To see the envelope, click the tab for the Pages panel or choose Window > Pages. Double-click the page 2 thumbnail in the Pages panel to see the envelope.

Double-click the page 1 thumbnail to continue.

Note: Our sample files use standard US dimensions. See alternative sizing below:

US letterhead: 8.5 in. x 11 in.; Europe: A4
US #10 envelope: 4.125 in. x 9.5 in.; Europe: 110 mm x 220 mm

The Pages panel is highlighted and is active, revealing two pages.

Choose File > Place and navigate to the supplied logo-color.ai file. Click Open. With your cursor loaded with the logo art, click at the intersection of the top and left margins and drag a rectangular frame.

To resize the logo and frame proportionally, press Command+Shift (macOS) or Control+Shift (Windows) and drag a corner point.

If you need to move the logo, click the frame with the Selection tool and drag to the desired position on the page.

In the upper-left the loco-color.ai file is opened. In the upper-right, a rectangular frame is drawn, revealing the logo. At bottom, the logo is resized using Command+Shift.

Double-click the page 2 thumbnail to view the envelope. Practice placing the logo at the intersection of the top and left margins. Resize the logo if necessary.

On page two, the logo is placed at the intersection of the top and left margins.

Both designs include a black rectangle that you can colorize to match your logo.

Select the rectangle with the Selection tool. In the Properties panel, click the Fill Color box. Choose a color or scroll and select the Orange color swatch we used for the logo.

Repeat this step in the letterhead design on page 1.

On page two, a rectangle in the bottom left is selected. The fill color of the rectangle is changed to orange, with the Properties panel visible.

Select the Type tool in the Toolbar. Highlight the text in both pages and replace it with your own.

On page one, placeholder text has been replaced with meaningful text.

Try changing the font and size of the body text in the letterhead.

Choose Type > Paragraph Styles. Styles save attributes for the text on pages. The Contact Info style is used in both designs and Body Text is used in the letterhead.

With nothing selected on the page, double-click the Body Text style to edit it. In the Paragraph Styles Options dialog box, click Basic Character Formats and make changes to the font and font size.

Select Character Color and select another color or scroll and select the Charcoal color swatch we provided.

Select Preview to see live changes, and then click OK to apply the changes.

Practice changing the Contact Info Paragraph Style to suit your design.

In the Paragraph Style Options dialog box, various options for Basic Character Formats are highlighted.

Choose File > Export > Adobe PDF (Print) and click Save.

In the Adobe PDF Preset menu, choose either the High Quality Print or Press Quality options based on your print provider's recommendations.

Click Export to save a print-ready PDF that you can email or upload online.

On the right, the Export Adobe PDF window is open, with the Adobe PDF Preset set to High Quality Print. On the left, the File-Save window is shown, with Format set to Adobe PDF (Print).

Impressive work! If you'd like to learn how to create a complete identity set, see Create a business card.

03/04/2020

Adobe Stock contributor: Bordo