One source. Every presentation.

A figure can appear in a workbook, report and deck. Each presentation follows the data and keeps its own style.

Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and the ArtCraft apps use the same layered source. The fixture above shows a real Calc workbook edit flowing through the WordCraft and DeckCraft writers.

Or copy/paste, import/export, or a plugin? The answers below separate plain copy behaviour, findings in our tests and reported vendor or community statements. Reported does not mean tested by Milleleaf.

Paste behaviour: you get a copy. When the source numbers change, that copy stays as it was. Formatting is converted into what the destination accepts. The paste itself provides no continuing source history, and edits in the copy do not flow back. This describes a plain paste, not Paste Link.

Reported: Microsoft Office OLE, LibreOffice DDE/OLE and Google linked charts refresh linked content within their own suites. Our sources describe one-way links, not edits returning from the copy.

Reported for file-based Office and LibreOffice links: absolute paths can break when files move or are renamed. This is not a claim about Google file paths. Google reports that updating a linked object overwrites edits made in the copy, and tables over 400 cells paste unlinked.

These are vendor and community statements recorded in the competitor research, not comparison tests we ran. Microsoft also offers destination styles; we have not tested a general claim that Paste Link breaks formatting.

Conversion behaviour: Save As and converters make a one-time conversion. Conversion alone leaves no continuing link to the source, so it supplies no route for edits to come back.

Found in our tests: Word re-measured auto-fit tables 2 and 6 in paper.docx. Excel resized charts after a Standard Width change in lca-model.xlsx. LibreOffice saved three charts in that workbook without their data; Milleleaf retained their source versions and listed it.

Each app writes its own representation on save. Rewrites are not automatically losses. These findings cover the named Office 16 and LibreOffice 24.2 files, not every converter or file.

Reported: think-cell, Macabacus and UpSlide refresh content well inside Microsoft Office. They require app installation and per-seat licensing, often paid. The 18 October research records Macabacus at about $200–360 per user per year, think-cell at roughly €189–$327 from third-party estimates, and UpSlide by quote. These are reported prices, not current quotes or tests.

Reported scope: the sources describe Microsoft Office support, not LibreOffice, the ArtCraft apps or your own software. Edits flowing back and cross-app loss reporting are not documented in those sources. That is not proof that they cannot exist.

Deployment constraint: managed computers may not permit installing an add-in. Check the organisation’s policy. This is a possible restriction, not a finding from our file tests.

Built approach: Milleleaf works on the files themselves through places the file standards allow. Nothing is installed into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, LibreOffice or the ArtCraft apps. Your own software can open the same standard files. A mix of apps uses one source; the format and adapter still set what is carried.

Found in our tests: the real Calc edit feeds a Word report file through WordCraft and a DeckCraft deck. Imported edits become changes to review. Typing over a linked value becomes a conflict instead of overwriting the source. Inventoried losses are listed on the checked files.

Found in our tests: the fixture change has a signed layer, and its hash and signature can be checked above. Layers record every imported change; signing is optional today. A signature identifies the signing key, not a person’s identity or approval.

Current limits from the plan: refresh uses CLI export, with no one-click refresh inside apps today. Review approvals and shared stores are planned. The mixed-route statuses above remain the boundary of what has been checked.

Stable IDs connect an exported file to its source revision. Edits return as a new layer; changes to linked values become conflicts.

When an app removes an ID, matching may be a best guess. The import report says so. It also lists unsupported features. Fixture checks fail on an unreported inventoried loss.

Layers and pictures are stored by content hash. Optional detached signatures verify signed layers and their stored assets against a key. They do not establish that the content is correct.

Hybrid post-quantum signatures and optional time-stamps are built. Projects choose their time-stamp services. RFC 3161 checking verifies the imprint and time, but does not validate the authority’s signature in Rust.

Identity markers use content-control tags, defined names, shape names and custom properties, all allowed by OOXML. The files stay ordinary office files and open normally. Standards do not guarantee that every app preserves a marker; checks measure survival per app.

The CLI and libraries work locally today. Shared-folder collaboration, peer-to-peer sync, a browser workspace and the wider review workflow are planned. Several machines sharing a store are not yet proven.