The right information.
Field names, number formats and matching the correct value to an artwork position need clear rules. Synthetic sample data keeps workflow illustrations separate from customer information.
OUR WORK / MERGEFORGE
MergeForge.
Document automation in practice.
A UNKNOT project built around recurring document and print preparation: spreadsheet-driven variable information, artwork fields and repeatable layouts.
STUDY / UNKNOTFEATURED PROJECT / MERGEFORGE
Document automation,
built around the details.
Print preparation can involve many small, repeated steps. Different jobs need different layouts, variable information and finishing details, and the same manual tasks come around again.
MergeForge brings focused processors into a browser-based workspace. The aim is straightforward: make recurring production tasks easier to handle through tools designed for the task.
FocusDocument workflows
FormatBrowser-based tool
ApproachTask-specific processors
MERGEFORGE / BY UNKNOTILLUSTRATIVE WORKSPACE
INSIDE THE APPROACH
Small steps.
Considered together.
Explore three types of work that helped shape MergeForge.
From a single design
to a repeatable layout.
Recurring print jobs often need the same sheet size, spacing and arrangement. Task-specific layout processors bring those settings into a more consistent workflow.
Let the data
do the repeating.
Spreadsheet values can drive variable text, numbering and barcodes in artwork. The useful part is connecting the right fields to the right places without repeating the same manual edits.
Give recurring jobs
a clearer starting point.
Document preparation involves details such as page boxes, bleed and finishing requirements. Focused processors help bring those job-specific steps into one place.
Simplified illustrations of the workflow. This page is a project overview; it does not process files.
THE IDEA BEHIND THE TOOL
Start with what
keeps repeating.
Useful software often starts with a familiar frustration: something that takes too many clicks, too much copying or too much checking.
That is the connection between MergeForge and the wider UNKNOT approach. Understand the process, identify the repeated effort and build a clearer way through it.
Explore document automationWHAT THE WORK TAUGHT US
Small details.
Practical consequences.
A useful document tool has to account for more than the screen. The input, output and production steps need to fit together.
The right geometry.
Page dimensions, spacing and the intended print arrangement shape a layout task. Representative files and the required output provide the starting point for review.
The right handover.
Filenames, output options and previews affect what happens after processing. Those details belong in the workflow, alongside the final review of the prepared files.
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER / LET’S TALK
Let’s make room
for better work.
Start with the task that takes too much time. We’ll explore a simpler way through it.