MERGESTUDIO: TWO FICTIONAL WORKED EXAMPLES
All records and PDF pages in this folder are synthetic practice data.
No customer information or endorsements are represented.

1. SPREADSHEETS: JOIN MATCHING RECORDS, OR APPEND ROWS?

Download fictional-items.csv and fictional-stock.csv.
Open https://mergestudio.app/merge-csv-files?demo=1 and add both files, items first.
Select both sheets. Choose Matches Only. Choose item_id as the matching
column in each source. Keep the default matching rules. In output columns,
keep item_id and label from fictional-items, and stock from fictional-stock;
remove the second item_id. Keep that output column order. Merge and download.

Exact expected data: expected-matches.csv
item_id,label,stock
A,Fictional Lantern,12
C,Fictional Mug,7

Why two rows? A and C occur in both files. B has no stock record and D has
no item label. Matches Only excludes unmatched keys. This example uses unique
keys; repeated keys can create multiple matching output rows.

Now reload the tool, add the same two files in the same order, choose Stack
Rows and keep all three output columns in order: item_id, label, stock.
Exact expected data: expected-stack.csv. It has six data rows, not two.
Stack appends the original records; it does not enrich each item with stock.
The blank cells are expected because the inputs have different columns.
Stack is usually the better choice for monthly exports with the same columns;
a join is the better choice when different files describe the same IDs.

Compare cell values and row/column order. CSV downloads may differ in byte-order
marks, quoting and line endings. Those differences do not change these results.
Choose the same output-column order above before comparing.

2. PDF: COMBINE FILES, THEN EXTRACT SELECTED PAGES

Download fictional-a.pdf (A1, A2) and fictional-b.pdf (B1, B2).
Open https://mergestudio.app/merge-pdf?demo=1 and add A before B. Leave pages in their
original order and merge. Exact expected page labels: A1, A2, B1, B2.
There must be four pages. Compare with expected-merged.pdf.

Open https://mergestudio.app/split-pdf?demo=1 and add that merged PDF.
Choose Custom ranges and enter 2-3. Create/download the result.
Expected: one PDF, two pages, labelled A2 then B1.
Compare with expected-extracted.pdf. Page ranges are 1-based.

For a separate-file alternative, reload the merged PDF and choose Every page.
Expected: four one-page PDFs in the same A1, A2, B1, B2 order, available as ZIP
or individual downloads. A PDF's bytes/metadata may differ while its pages match.

These plain PDFs contain no forms, signatures, bookmarks or passwords. They do
not demonstrate preservation of those features. Real PDF limitations are
explained on the tool page. Do not upload sensitive files to another service
just to compare your results.

MEASUREMENT NOTE
The public tool URLs above use ?demo=1. Your ordinary page view still counts as
a visit, but practice tool starts, downloads and feedback do not count as
real-file activity. Keep ?demo=1 on every practice tool URL you open; ordinary
navigation links do not retain it. It creates no storage preference or cookie.
Downloading these fictional files and manually adding them on an unmarked page
does not automatically mark that session as a demo. The built-in 'Try with
sample data' button separately marks its current page session as a demo.
To work with your own files afterward, open a fresh tool page without ?demo=1.

The separate exact ?qa=1 opt-out is reserved for owner/developer internal tests;
it suppresses all analytics, including page views. It is not a public practice
link. Internal testers must activate it before loading production and retain
it on every navigation. Practice downloads are not proof of a real-file job.
