The recto is the right-hand page and the verso the left-hand page of a folded sheet or bound item, such as a book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. A page is one side of a leaf of Paper. It can be used as a measurement of Documenting or Recording quantity ("that topic covers twelve pages" A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together Broadsheet is the largest of the various Newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches or more A pamphlet is an unbound Booklet (that is without a hard cover or binding) These are terms of art in the binding, printing, and publishing industries, and can be applied more broadly to any field where physical documents are exchanged.

The term recto-verso describes two-sided printing. It is the norm for books, but was an important advantage of the printing-press over the much older Asian woodblock printing method, which printed by rubbing from behind the page being printed, and so could only print on one side of a piece of paper. A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium (such as paper or cloth thereby transferring an image For the use of the technique in art see Woodcut on the technique and Old master print for the history in Europe and Woodblock printing in Japan.

The distinction between recto and verso can be convenient in the annotation of scholarly books, particularly in bilingual edition translations. Annotation is add on information asserted with a particular point in a Document or other piece of information

A religious scripture that makes use of the recto and verso distinction is the Ginza Rba of Mandaeism, in which two separate narratives cover the opposite-facing pages. Ginza Rba ("The Great Treasure" in Mandaic) or Siddra Rba, "The Great Book" ( Arabic كنزا ربا) is one of many holy

The "recto" and "verso" terms can also be employed for the front and back of a one-sheet artwork, particularly in drawing. Drawing is a Visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium A recto-verso drawing is a sheet with drawings on both sides, for example in a sketchbook—although usually in these cases there is no obvious primary side. Some works are planned to exploit being on two sides of the same piece of paper, but usually the works are not intended to be considered together. Paper was relatively expensive in the past; indeed good drawing paper still is much more expensive than normal paper.

A 2001 exhibit at Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University displayed recto-verso drawings from the Renaissance to the present. The Fogg Art Museum is the oldest of Harvard University 's art museums

See also

• Obverse and reverse in coins