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Client privacy and artwork

Clients trust you with their ideas and, sometimes, personal photographs. Keep the brief focused on what helps you discuss the tattoo, and make a separate decision about which finished work belongs in your public portfolio.

Keep the brief focused

Ask for the tattoo idea, body area, rough size and the contact details needed to discuss it. Clients can add up to five JPG, PNG or WebP images, including screenshots, as well as inspiration links. Images can be up to 10MB each. The form prepares them on the client's device and uploads them only when the client submits from Review. Choosing a file or moving between steps does not send it to the studio. Do not ask clients to upload ID, insurance paperwork or medical records, attach them to a reference link or put diagnoses in their brief.

Keep health answers separate from tattoo briefs, reference images and general client conversations. Your studio still carries out age, identity and suitability checks and discusses accessibility needs with the client.

Digital waivers are optional. To use them, publish your studio's reviewed consent wording, health questions and health-data privacy notice in Settings → Booking setup → Digital waivers. Clients answer and sign a private form for an agreed tattoo session. Health answers are encrypted; only owners, admins and the assigned artist can review them with the client. Clients can download their own copy and withdraw consent to use their health information. Erasing answers keeps the signed procedure-consent record, so it is not the same as deleting all session records. InkWell does not make automated medical decisions.

Where session preparation is enabled, an owner/admin can name external documents and add requirements in Settings → Booking setup → Session checklist. The linked booking agreement is configured once in Terms & cancellation, not recreated as a document-name field. Where agreement is required, the checklist reads the booking's recorded agreement; staff do not tick it again. Staff complete the other checks in the booking's Session section before recording its start. Preparation, age, session consent and aftercare checks are completed on the session day; a paid deposit does not complete them. These are staff-recorded checks. If digital waivers apply to the session, the current client signature and staff health review are also required. Keep documents collected outside InkWell in your approved external system.

Open references deliberately

Client references may contain sensitive body imagery. Previews stay hidden until you choose Load reference. The reference count lets you find them without displaying them in the enquiry header.

Loading an external image or opening its link contacts that website, which can see your network address. InkWell does not make a publicly shared reference link private. Use only links the client is entitled to share, and check who else can open them.

Uploaded reference images are stored privately with the enquiry. Staff open them through the request's Images section using their existing enquiry permissions. Uploading a reference does not publish it in your portfolio or attach it to the acknowledgement emails. Those emails show how many images and links were supplied. InkWell removes embedded camera and location details from the saved image.

Review before publishing

An image shared to explain a tattoo idea is different from permission to show a client's work publicly. Ask before using an identifiable client photo in your portfolio, and choose a crop and caption you're both comfortable sharing.

New artist portfolio uploads start hidden. Review the image, crop and caption, confirm the client's permission for public use, then switch its visibility on. Public portfolio work can be viewed and copied by visitors; hiding it later cannot recall copies already downloaded.

Tattoo placement photos may legitimately include anatomy or healed-work detail. That does not automatically make them suitable for a public portfolio. Avoid unnecessary identifying details and do not publish abusive or illegal content. Studio logos, gallery photos and merchandise images are intended for public pages when you save them there.

Understand image checks

Use JPG, PNG or WebP portfolio images and follow any size or format message shown when uploading. Check the saved image and crop before publishing it.

InkWell does not automatically check whether an image is suitable to publish. Your studio needs to review the image and client permission before making portfolio work public. A successful upload does not mean the image is suitable to publish.

Limit team access

Use individual staff accounts and the least access needed. Artists see their assigned enquiries; assistants can manage studio operations but not payment records. Viewers do not have access to client enquiries or private enquiry activity. Remove leavers promptly and review roles when responsibilities change.

Private conversation links give the client access to that enquiry. Share them only with the intended client. The enquiry owner can revoke customer links in Conversation → Manage access if a link was shared incorrectly.

Keep private details out of support screenshots, calendar titles and publicly visible captions. Archive and Spam retain enquiry history; they are not deletion tools. Contact Support for a data-rights or retention request rather than promising that an archive action erased the client's records.

Report a privacy concern

Stop sharing the affected content and contact Support. Provide the enquiry or image reference, approximate time and a short description. Do not forward sensitive images, passwords, payment data or medical documents to demonstrate a problem.

For suspicious or potentially illegal imagery, do not publish it or request more copies. Ask Support how to proceed through the appropriate reporting process.

Team and permissions · Managing enquiries

Public wording and brand names

Your tattoo brand can be blunt. Ordinary swearing, blunt artist names, and descriptions of weapon or mushroom artwork do not need an exception. Specific slurs and explicit hate or threat phrases can need review before they appear publicly. A word match can also catch a legitimate surname, reclaimed language or quoted artwork.

If a field is flagged, edit it or save the record privately, then contact Support with the field and complete wording. An administrator can review the context and approve that exact value for your studio. Approval does not publish your page. Different wording or another field can need a separate review. Do not send sensitive client imagery for a wording review. These text checks do not classify lettering or symbols inside images.