What is Fore / Head / Tail Edges
It is used to reference the position of the book’s page edges.
- Fore-edge: Outer edge opposite the spine.
- Head edge: Top edge of the book.
- Tail edge: Bottom edge of the book.
These terms prevent mistakes because “top/bottom/side” changes depending on how the book is held or fed into a machine. Fore / head / tail stays correct no matter the orientation, so everyone (designer, printer, binder) is talking about the same edge.
Book edge positions labeled fore-edge, head edge, and tail edge.