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Alpha

Keyline Studio

A first proof, typeset from the manuscript.

Keyline Studio drafts for financial printers. A typesetter picks a client's Word file and a house template. Keyline Studio prepares the content, sets the pages in InDesign on the typesetter's own machine, and hands back the InDesign file, a PDF proof and a list of what to check.

Register interest See the evidence
Keyline Studio building a made-up company's 2025 annual results announcement: English, on the Keyline Standard template, at step 7 of 8, every step timed.
  • The ask. A made-up company's Word file, its language and the template it is set in.
  • The build. Each step in InDesign, timed as it runs.
  • Live. The step under way, and how long it has taken so far.

01 Problem

Every filing is due in the same few weeks.

Printers typeset annual reports, results announcements, circulars and prospectuses against filing dates, usually in two languages. The dates bunch into a short season, so the same typesetters have to set more pages, faster, in the house style each client expects.

02 Constraints

InDesign stays, and a person signs off.

Printers work in InDesign, from their own house templates. A draft has to arrive as their own InDesign file, set in their own styles, not in a format of its own.

The printer's fonts, colour profiles and licences stay on its own machines, so the pages are set beside the typesetter, not in a cloud. And a first proof is where the typesetter's work starts: every place the draft is unsure of is named, with its page.

03 What We Built

A drafting engine that ends in InDesign.

Four parts carry a draft from the manuscript to a proof: the preparation, the build, the checks and the templates.

One draft

  1. PickA typesetter picks a client's Word file and a house template
  2. PrepareThe server reads the Word file and, with AI, plans the pages on the template
  3. BuildThe desktop app runs the build kit in InDesign on the typesetter's own computer
  4. CheckEach doubt becomes a check with its page, on a layer that does not print
  5. Hand backThe InDesign file, a PDF proof and a list of what to check
One draft, from the manuscript to a first proof. The build in 04 is one of these.

The parts

Prepare

The server reads the Word file and, with AI, plans the pages on the template: a build kit for InDesign.

Build

The desktop app runs the kit in InDesign on the typesetter's computer, then hands back the InDesign file and a PDF proof.

Checks

Each doubt becomes a check with its page, listed beside the draft and written on a non-printing layer of the InDesign file.

Templates

AI suggests how a house template's styles match the parts of a document, and a person can change any match before the template is saved.

04 Evidence

A draft, and what to check in it.

Every draft comes back as the InDesign file, a PDF proof and its checks, each check with its page.

A finished Keyline Studio draft: its one check with its page, the InDesign file and the PDF proof to open, and all 21 steps timed.
  • Done. The draft, built on its template, with how long each step took.
  • Checks. Each one in plain words, with its page.
  • Files. The InDesign file and the PDF proof, ready to download.

The build, step by step

2025 ARA EN · 13 Oct 2026

▸ download the build kit, from the server 0:00
▸ open template the house template, in InDesign 0:01
▸ set pages every paragraph and table, in the template's styles 0:23
▸ read pages the built pages, so each check can name its page 0:01
▸ place checks on a layer that does not print 0:01
▸ make PDF the proof 0:03
▸ package the InDesign file and its images 0:01
▸ upload the InDesign file and the PDF proof, back to the server 0:03
2,758commits Since the first, on 20 April 2026 Git · Keyline Studio · 12 Oct 2026
1,025tests Passing on the desktop app, twenty full runs in a row Test runs · desktop app · 11 Oct 2026

05 Stack

What it runs on.

Desktop app
Avalonia · .NET 10 · Windows
InDesign
InDesign 2026 · ExtendScript over COM
Server
.NET 10 on Azure App Service · Azure SQL
Sign-in
Auth0
Status
Alpha · one document class: annual results announcements

Interest

Want Keyline Studio for your press?

Keyline Studio is in alpha. Tell us what you typeset, and in which languages, and we'll get in touch.

Register interest contact@nsi4.com