Account setup

Start with your name and the work you want to share. You can build your profile, portfolio and services a little at a time, with a private preview before going live. This guide covers your account and the first choices for your studio.

Create and verify your account

Choose Continue with Google, or create an account with email and password and confirm your email before signing in. Account creation needs no card. If the email has not arrived, check spam and confirm the address before requesting another.

Choose solo artist, studio or collective, add a name and check your page address. Add profile details is optional. Your page stays hidden after you choose Create studio.

If setup asks you to sign in again, use Sign in again (opens a new tab). Sign in there, then return to the original setup tab to continue with your entered details. Keep that tab open until your studio is created; refreshing or closing it can lose unsaved details.

Keep passwords and verification links private. If you cannot sign in, contact Support.

Build before you go live

Your studio is yours to prepare from day one. Business verification is a launch requirement, so you can add your profile and portfolio, configure services and working hours, and shape your enquiry form before starting the checks. Your page stays private until you publish it.

Choose Preview studio page to review your saved page and enquiry form. You can share the full preview link with a trusted colleague without an InkWell account; it expires after roughly 5–10 minutes. Private previews explains sharing and refreshing the link.

Preview does not allow a hidden studio to receive enquiries, take payments or create orders. Merchandise can be prepared privately; publishing and selling requires an active subscription. Account creation, your monthly plan, business verification and publication are separate steps; creating an account does not start a paid subscription.

Complete your profile

Use the name clients already know you by and describe the work you want to do. You can come back to the wording and images as your page takes shape.

Follow Next step on your dashboard. Add a short bio in Profile, then a city or postcode in Contact & location, and save. A full street address is optional.

Open Settings → Artists, select an artist and complete their profile. Turn on public visibility for the artists clients should see. Artist accounts manage their own details under Artist profile. Portfolio images are optional; review them before making them public.

Studio profile explains what clients see.

Add your services

Open Services. Start with a few clear offerings and set each base price, duration and deposit requirement. Choose which services to show publicly and save your changes.

Compare artist capacity and monthly prices when deciding which plan fits your studio. Every plan includes all features and non-artist staff. Account creation is separate from a paid subscription. Choose your monthly plan in Settings → Plan & billing when you’re ready to go live. Later plan changes must cover your active artist profiles; hidden profiles count too.

Set working hours

Open Booking hours and select the artist. Add weekly rules, select several days with the same hours or use Copy. Add holidays and breaks under Time off.

Client preferred dates do not reserve a slot. Check the calendar before agreeing a session.

Verify your business

Complete this step when you're ready to go live. You can keep preparing and previewing your page while the checks are in progress.

Open Settings → Business verification and save your Legal seller, with the legal name, company number where applicable, public business postal address and customer support email and phone. Then complete the business, personal and bank details Stripe requests. Upload any requested identity documents in Stripe’s secure verification flow.

Stripe verification and the legal seller check must be complete before your studio goes live or accepts deposits and merchandise payments. Limited-company registration details need independent InkWell review. A pending review, earlier payment-link cleanup or unavailable status keeps publication and new payments blocked. Return to Business verification and use Refresh status to check the latest result.

Booking terms and merchandise use the shared legal seller record. Your public studio name and location can be different, and your customer support phone can differ from your personal Stripe phone. Connect Stripe explains seller changes and verification.

Review Settings → Booking setup for the enquiry form, terms and staff checklist. The enquiry form controls the public questions; terms and the checklist apply later in the booking.

Preview your page. Choose Review publishing on the dashboard, turn on Public visibility and save. Resolve any checks shown before publishing.

Once it accepts requests, send a clearly labelled practice enquiry and check it appears in Requests.

Follow Set up your studio to finish the setup and share your public link. Use the first booking checklist when a client enquires.

Set up payments when you need them

When online collection is enabled for your studio, complete business verification before preparing client payment requests. Payments & payouts shows your verification status alongside your Stripe balance and payouts. Follow Payouts and reconciliation to check balances and any available manual payout controls. Merchandise also needs its seller details, VAT and store policies before customers can buy.

Client payments covers deposits, full payments, balances and refunds. Subscriptions covers your own InkWell billing.