Videos/Business letter according to DIN 5008

Foreword
This description refers to the version LibreOffice 6.

The video "Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008" (in German) links to this page here, which contains further information and details.

Corporate Identity
For companies, organisations, authorities etc. it is important how they are perceived from the outside.

This is collectively referred to as corporate identity.

See also:

Corporate Design
Corporate design is a part of corporate identity and includes the appearance of the company/organisation.

This also includes the business letters/paperwork.

See also:

The DIN 5008 standard applies to business letters/paperwork.

Business letter according to DIN 5008
The creation of a according to  as a document template requires great effort in implementation.

The arrangement and possible variations in the letter parts for address and sender are quite complex.

Special attention must be paid to the entire page layout with the company logo and the corresponding lettering.

The video and the following descriptions are intended to help you create your own letter template for "Business letter according to DIN 5008".

Within these descriptions there are links to, which provide additional information.

Link to the video


Link to the video (in German [DE]):

Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008 in Writer - LibreOffice 6

Letter-Forms


for private letters

Distance to the upper edge: 0,27 cm.



for business letters

At a distance of 0.45 cm from the top edge of the sheet the address field begins and at 9.84 (9.846 cm) cm the text field begins.

Page / Paper Format


For normal business correspondence, DIN 5008 specifies the :

Click menu.

For "Page|Paper Format": (DIN) A4

width: 21,00 cm,

height: 29,70 cm,

paper quality should be at least 80 g/m2.

Excluded from this are short letters and other special forms.

Letterhead / -paper
Stationery: blank, usually white


 * Letterhead partially pre-printed or pre-printed, usually white with colour printing.

Note The letterhead is an important element for recognition. In our example, we combine a frame as text field and an image for the letterhead and use a large colored logo that represents a row of houses. This is quite a large color area for output to a printer. This can lead to high costs of consumables (ink, toner). In many cases, it will therefore make sense to have the letterhead with letterhead and footer, sender identification and info block produced by a printing company.

Margins
Left: 2,50 cm,

Specification according to DIN 5008: 2.41 cm. In many cases, the DIN 5008 specification is rounded up to 2.50 cm.

In any case, the dimensions according to DIN 5008 should not be fallen short of in order to ensure a clean Hole punching of the letterhead.

Right: 1,00 cm to 2,00 cm,

The value results from practical use.

If the value is reduced, check to what extent the printer can print to the outside right.

For aesthetic reasons, values below 1.00 cm should not be used.

Top: 9,84 cm,

For business letters, the company logo, the company lettering, as well as the address field and the info block are placed in the upper area.

The upper margin is thus set so that the text area begins directly below it.

Bottom: 1,00 cm to 2,00 cm.

Here it must be taken into account whether a pre-printed letterhead or blank paper is used.

The company data is entered directly above the margin to be considered.

For aesthetic reasons, no values below 1.00 cm should be used.

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Basic possibilities

 * Text field only
 * Text field and graphic
 * Graphics only
 * - none - (remains blank), i.e. pre-printed stationery is used

Create letterhead / page header
The page header in the design as a graphic with text usually contains a logo and the company's lettering.

For our exercise, we insert a frame in the page header.

Frame for page header


From the menu, choose.

Tab "Type":

Size

Width: 16,50 cm, Height: 3,50 cm

Position

Horizontal From Left: 2,50 cm to Entire page,

Vertical From Top: 1,00 cm to Entire page

Anchor



Tab "Options":

For the function Protect we set a check mark at

and at

Tab "Wrap":

Settings

Through

Spacing

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Tab "Borders":

Line Arrangement

"Presets: Set No Borders"

Padding

Left: 0,15 cm; Right 0,15 cm; Top: 0,15 cm; Bottom: 0,15 cm.

Insert logo

We insert a prefabricated logo.

In our example we use the file "Häuser-Reihe_02.png", see below Work files.

We click on Insert Image and select the file.

The graphic will not fit immediately.

We double-click on the graphic and enter:

Image: Houses


Tab "Type":

Size

Width: 13,00 cm, Height: 2,18 cm

Position

Horizontal From Left: 2,65 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: 1,65 cm to Entire page

Anchor



Tab "Options":

For the function Protect we set a check mark at

and at

Tab "Wrap":

Settings

Through

Spacing

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Tab "Borders":

Line Arrangement

"Preset: Set No Borders"

Padding

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Frame as Text field in the page header


From the menu, choose.

Tab "Type":

Size

Width: 2,20 cm, Height: 2,20 cm

Position

Horizontal From Left: 16,65 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: 1,65 cm to Entire page

Anchor



Tab "Options":

For the function Protect we set a check mark at

and at

Tab "Wrap":

Settings

Through

Spacing

Left: 0,20 cm; Right 0,20 cm; Top: 0,20 cm; Bottom: 0,20 cm.

Tab "Borders":

Line arrangement

"Preset: Set No Borders"

Padding

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

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Address field




Overview
Return information 1)

Additional and note zone

Recipient address

[[Media:201805_LO_HB_Anschriftenfeld.png|Address field frame]]
From the menu, choose.

Tab "Type":

Size

Width: 8,50 cm, Height: 4,50 cm ( resp. 4,00 cm + 0,50 cm )

At, ( no Checkmark )









Position

Horizontal From Left: (2,41 cm) 2,50 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: 4,50 cm to Entire page

Anchor



Tab "Options":

For the function Protect we set a check mark at

and at

Tab "Wrap":

Settings

Through

Spacing

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Tab "Borders":

Line Arrangement

"Presets: Set No Borders"

Padding

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Return information ( Return address ) 1)
One line, height: max. 0,50 cm,

Font size 6 - 8 resp. 7 - 9 pt,

The return information usually contains in short form:


 * Company / First Name Last Name
 * Street / P.O. Box
 * Postal Code City

with an underline

Addition and Note Zone
Examples:


 * Registered mail
 * Book shipment
 * Goods shipment
 * Personal
 * If undeliverable, please return with new address

Address
The address can look very different. See examples 1 - 3 on the right.

When designing your own business letter, look at business letters from other partners to make your choice.

Addressing letters correctly
Weblinks: Korrekte Adressierung|Wikipedia

Font size for the address
Font size at least 8 pt, from 10 pt with serifs possible, otherwise use e.g. Liberation Sans.

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Overview
Conversation partner: Department: * telephone: telefax: E-Mail: * Date:

Information block frame


From the menu, choose.

Tab "Type":

Size

Width: 7,50 cm, Height: 5,00 cm

Position

Horizontal From Left: 12,50 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: 5,00 cm to Entire page

Anchor

To page

Tab "Options":

For the function Protect we set a check mark at

and at

Tab "Wrap":

Settings

Through

Spacing

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Tab "Borders":

Line Arrangement

"Presets: Set No Borders"

Padding

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Date
The year should always be written with four digits.

The international notation provides for the sequence YEAR-MONTH-DAY. (see also ISO 8601).

Example for the notations:


 * 2018-04-25

Font size for the information block
Font size at least 8pt, from 10pt with serifs possible, otherwise use e.g. Liberation Sans.

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Structure of the text area



 * Subject line
 * Salutation
 * Letter text
 * Greeting
 * Signature
 * Enclosure(s)

Example: Overview text area
Our top offer just for you - fresh tomatoes from Italy * *  Dear Sir or Madam, * we are pleased to present a top offer just for you. From the new harvest 2018 we offer you fresh tomatoes from Italy. Please see the attached price list for prices. Only for you, minus 5% discount. The offer is limited until 31 August. We will be happy to take your order. You can find out about other products from Italy in our enclosed flyer. Call us if you need any help. * Kind regards * *  *  Guiseppe Italiano * Attachments Price list for large customers Our current flyer with more products from Italy

Subject line
The subject line, e.g. "Our top offer only for you - fresh tomatoes from Italy, is created below the address field.

The word "subject" or similar is no longer used, it is omitted.

The subject line does not have a full stop at the end, etc. Usually the subject line is highlighted in bold.

The salutation
The salutation, e.g. "Dear Sir or Madam," is two lines apart from the subject line.

The actual text of the letter
Insert a blank line after the salutation and then we can write our text.

Font size for the text area
Font size at least 10pt to 12 pt with serifs possible, otherwise use e.g. Liberation Sans.

Greetings
With a blank line to the text, we write the greeting formula, e.g.:


 * "Kind regards"
 * "Kind regards from Milano"
 * "Kind regards and have a nice weekend"

Signature
After the greeting, we (usually) leave three lines of space for the signature.

After that, the signature can be inserted in typescript, as not everyone necessarily has a legible signature.

Kind regards * *  *  Guiseppe Italiano

Attachment(s)
Example:

Kind regards * *  *  Guiseppe Italiano * Attachments Price list for large customers Our current flyer with more products from Italy

Font size for the greeting
Font size at least 10pt to 12 pt with serifs possible, but as in the text area, otherwise use e.g. Liberation Sans.

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Letter footer / footer design


According to DIN 5008, there are no specifications for the bottom margin or the footer height.

You may need to adjust the bottom margin.

The footer should contain all important company data and mandatory information:


 * Name of the company
 * Legal form
 * Registered office
 * Name of the managing director / members of the board of directors / supervisory board
 * Registry court
 * Bank details
 * Value added tax identification number
 * Possible supervisory authority
 * etc.

Footer frame
From the menu, choose.

Tab "Type":

Size

Width: 16,50 cm, Height: 1,00 cm

Position

Horizontal From Left: 2,50 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: 27,70 cm to Entire page

Anchor



Tab "Options":

For the function Protect we set a check mark at

and at

Tab "Wrap":

Settings

Through

Spacing

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

Tab "Borders":

Line Arrangement

"Presets: Set No Borders"

Padding

Left: 0,00 cm; Right 0,00 cm; Top: 0,00 cm; Bottom: 0,00 cm.

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Envelope
An is the packaging of a letter.

Hole and folding marks (also folding marks) are used to prepare the Letterhead DIN A4 for a double cross fold.

After folding, the letterhead is usually placed in a window envelope (if the address field is correctly positioned). .

Folding mark_1
Right-click the line and select "Position and Size" from the context menu.

Position and size

Width: 0,50 cm, Height: 0,04 cm

Horizontal from left: to 0,40 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: to 10,50 cm to Entire page

Hole mark
Right-click the line and select "Position and Size" from the context menu.

Position and Size

Width: 0,50 cm, Height: 0,04 cm

Horizontal from left: to 0,40 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: to 14,85 cmto Entire page

Folding mark_2
Right-click the line and select "Position and Size" from the context menu.

Position and Size

Width: 0,30 cm, Height: 0,04 cm

Horizontal from left: to 0,60 cm to Entire page, Vertical From Top: to 21,00 cm to Entire page (or from below: to 8,70 cm).

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Work files
[[Media:Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008_V3.ott|Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008_V3 - to the video]]

[[Media:Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008_V3_mit_seite_2.ott|Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008_V3 - with 2nd side]]

[[Media:Geschäftsbrief 5008 - SCHLAU+BAUER_V3.ott|Geschäftsbrief 5008 - SCHLAU+BAUER_V3 - prefilled]]

[[Media:Unterschrift - Dr Klaus Schlau.png|Signature - Dr Klaus Schlau]]

[[Media:Werte in den Dialogboxen - Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008_V3.odt|Values in the dialog boxes - Geschäftsbrief nach DIN 5008_V3]]



Compatibility
A letterhead created in LibreOffice with inserted frames is not suitable for transfer to MS-Word or saving as a doc/docx file.

Change pages
If page 1 of a letter is not enough, continuation pages are needed.

For this purpose it is necessary to make a page 2-ff.

This page 2 is typically created with a corresponding style sheet (page template) so that the enlarged top margin of page 1 is not adopted when the page is changed.

For this purpose, a new page template for page 2 ff. must be created, deviating from the standard page template.

Detailed descriptions of page formatting can be found here:

English documentation

More sources
in German Schreib- und Gestaltungsregeln

Documentation / Manuals
Here you will find the Documentation / Manuals:

Documentation / Manuals

Any questions?
For questions on this topic go to:

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