Tattoo artists: plan multi-session tattoos online

A sleeve or a back piece isn't one appointment but a series, spaced out over months, each session several hours long. If those sessions sit on your public page like any other slot, a stranger can take the date you'd planned for a client halfway through their piece. With Book, new clients book a consultation online, and you create their sessions yourself from your bookings list, so large projects stay on track and your public page shows only what's open to everyone.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description, all shown on your public page. Make the consultation the entry point for large pieces:

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. Say in the large-piece descriptions that a consultation comes first.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note that reaches you in the new booking email. Ask for the placement, approximate size, style and whether they'll send reference images by email. Tell clients not to put health details in the note: it appears in their calendar file. Discuss anything medical in person, according to the rules that apply to you.

After the consultation, you know how many sessions the piece needs. Create them yourself from your bookings list, on dates you agree with the client. Bookings you create need only first and last name; add the client's email and they get a confirmation with a calendar file for each session. Book doesn't send reminders, so those calendar files keep the dates in front of them.

Space sessions on the same area according to your own protocols and how the client heals. Booking only the next one or two sessions at a time keeps the plan flexible: you can adjust after seeing how the last session healed.

Each slot sits within one day and can last most of it. A full-day session is one slot with one place. Say in the description when breaks happen and whether clients should bring food, so the day runs smoothly.

Slots repeat weekly on the weekdays you choose until an end date. Keep a few days with public slots for small tattoos and consultations, and the other days for project sessions you create yourself. Slots of different services can overlap, so check your synced Google, iPhone or Mac calendar before you add a session on a day with public slots, and close the overlapping slot if needed.

For a flash day, create a service for that date with short slots and one place each, and describe the designs available. When a slot is booked, it leaves your page.

Working at another studio for a week? Create a service named with the city and dates, with its own slots, and say the address in the description.

Book has one booking page per business and no staff field. In a studio with several artists, create services per artist, such as "Consultation with Sam", so each client books the right person.

Book doesn't take deposits or payments, store designs or consent forms, or send reminders. Clients can't move or cancel online: they contact you, and you move the session from your list. If you take deposits, handle them outside Book and say so in the description. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.