Booking hours

Open Booking hours (previously Availability) to set when each artist can take appointments, including the space needed between sessions and time off. These recurring rules give you a starting point when discussing dates with a client; they do not show the studio's current free slots.

What weekly hours are for

Weekly rules describe the artist's normal booking hours. They help staff check preferred-date fit and choose a time for an agreed appointment.

Use Booking hours for recurring bookable hours and time off, Studio schedule for the attendance rota, Appointments for client sessions, and Stations for physical space when tracking is enabled. An artist can be at the studio without taking appointments throughout their shift.

Client preferred dates are requests, not live reserved slots. Saved booking hours do not promise an appointment. Staff can protect a checked time with a separate timed hold where available; a saved plan alone does not reserve it.

Set up a week quickly

Start with the hours you usually work. Leave room for the preparation, conversations and breaks you need between clients; the buffer is there to reflect your way of working.

1. Open Booking hours and select the artist.
2. Choose Add booking hours and select all days that share the same hours.
3. Set start, end, slot duration and buffer.
4. Save the rule and confirm each selected day appears under Weekly booking hours.
5. Use Copy on an existing rule to apply its times to other days.

Review the studio time zone shown on the page. Only the selected artist's booking hours are shown. A rule's end must be after its start; do not add overlapping rules for the same day.

Block exceptions

Use Time off for holidays, breaks and other unavailable periods. This blocks specific dates without replacing your recurring week.

Check existing appointments first; blocking time off does not cancel or move them.

Before agreeing a booking

Open Appointments, check the day or week and select the relevant artist. Review working hours, time off, session duration and buffers. If capacity checks are enabled, the chosen time also needs published attendance, studio opening time and an eligible station. A free calendar interval alone does not guarantee space.

InkWell checks the chosen time before saving. External calendars are not synchronised, so check commitments recorded elsewhere too.

Check your changes

Refresh the page and verify the saved rules. If a form reports an error, correct it before leaving the page.

Time off · Managing bookings