The proposal looks great but it opens straight into the executive summary. No title. No client logo. No date. It reads like a draft.
A cover page is a five-minute fix and dramatically lifts how the document feels. The trick is doing it without re-exporting the whole proposal from Word — which always reshuffles something.
Design the cover separately
Build the cover wherever you're fastest — Word, Canva, Figma, Pages, Keynote. Keep it to one page. Include the document title, the recipient or client name, your logo, the date, and a version number if it matters.
Export that one page as its own PDF. If your tool exports an image, convert the image to PDF first so the merge step has a PDF to work with.
Merge the cover onto the front
Drop both files into Flint's merge tool — cover first, main document second. The tool stitches them into one PDF with the cover as page 1. The original document's bookmarks, page numbers, and layout stay intact.
This is the part most people overcomplicate. There's no need to open the main document at all. You're appending pages, not editing the existing ones.
Renumber if needed
If the original PDF had page numbers starting from page 1, you might want them to start from page 2 now that there's a cover. Re-stamp page numbers using the editor, tell the tool to start from page 2, and treat that as page 1.
Covers traditionally aren't numbered. Skipping them keeps the document looking proper.
FAQ
Can I use a Canva design as a PDF cover?
Yes. Export your Canva design as a PDF (one page only), then merge it onto the front of your main document. Most designed cover pages live in tools like Canva or Figma for exactly this reason.
Do I need to re-export my Word document?
No. That's the point of merging. The Word file stays untouched. You're attaching a separate cover PDF to the front of the already-exported document.
Can I add a back cover too?
Yes. Drop the cover first, the main PDF second, and a back cover third in the merge tool. They'll combine in that order.
Will the cover page have its own page count?
Yes, it's page 1 of the merged PDF. If you want "page 1" to refer to the first content page, restamp the numbering to skip the cover.
A cover page changes a document's first impression entirely. Design it once, merge it onto the front, and ship the proposal looking like the real thing.