Tooling (bookbinding)

Tooling in bookbinding is the decoration of a book by impressing engraved tools into the spine, boards, edges of boards, inside of boards, and/or edges of the bookblock (the group of leaves that make up the book). Tooling can be blind, where no additional decoration is applied, or can use metal leaf, most commonly gold. The word "tooling" implies the use of handheld tools; impressions can also be made with a blocking press using metal type or plates, in which case the process is "blocking."

Sometimes particularities of specific finishing tools can be connected to a finisher or bookbinder and help to attribute the binding.

Most of what is described below applies to European and American bookbinding; there were different styles in other areas of the world. Not all binding traditions use tooled decoration.