In no case should the address be ambiguous. However many branch offices the firm may have, the use of more than one address on the envelope is apt to be confusing and may result in a communication's being returned to an office other than that from which it comes. To avoid this, only one address should be printed on the envelope, and that should be the address to which the correspondence is to be returned by the postal authorities in case of non-delivery to the addressee. The trade mark or other similar distinctive imprint of a firm may properly be used on the envelope, but only in cases where it will not tend to confuse or crowd the essential wording. The name of the person to whom the letter is to be returned is of considerable more practical value to the postman than a unique design with which the envelope may be adorned.
The letterhead offers wider opportunities for an array of data. Pictures of offices, buildings and factories, trade marks, lists of branch offices, cable codes and the names of officers and executive heads may be used, but too much reading matter leads to confusion. The tendency today is toward simplicity. The name and address of the firm, and the particular department or branch office from which the communication comes, is regarded as sufficient by many houses. The day of the letterhead gay with birds-eye views of the plant and much extraneous information seems to be passing, and money that was once spent in elaborate designs and plates is now put into the "quality" of the letter paper—and quality is usually marked by dignified simplicity and directness.
Letterheads may be mechanically produced by several different processes that range widely in costs. The principal methods of printing letterheads are:
First: From type.
Second: From zinc or half-tone plates made from drawings—generally designated as "photo-engraving".
Third: From plates engraved on copper or steel.
Fourth: From lithograph plates, engraved on stone.
Fifth: From photogravure or similar engraved plates.
Generally speaking, letterheads printed from type are the cheapest. The costs of type composition for an ordinary letterhead will vary from fifty cents to four or five dollars, dependent upon the amount of work. The printing ranges in cost from one dollar a thousand sheets for one color to several times that amount, dependent upon the quality of ink and paper, and upon local conditions. Many concerns are discarding letterheads printed from type, as more individuality can be shown in some form of engraved or lithographed work.
Good results may often be secured from "line cuts" or zinc plates— which cost from five to ten cents a square inch, with a minimum charge ranging from fifty cents to a dollar—made from pen-and-ink drawings. Good and distinctive lettering may often be secured in this way, where type matter does not offer the same opportunities. The cost of printing from zinc plates is practically the same as the cost of printing from type. If the drawings are made in water color, "wash" or oil, or if they contain fine crayon or pencil shadings, the reproductions must be made from half-tone plates. These cost from twelve cents to twenty cents a square inch, with a minimum rate that usually is equivalent to the cost of ten square inches. Half-tones, however, can be printed only on an enamel or other smooth-surface paper, and cannot be used satisfactorily on a rough-surface paper as can zinc plates.