Welcome to Porter! This guide walks you through setting up your artist profile and getting ready to take bookings — all from the Porter mobile app.
Everything below happens in the app, so log in with your phone number to get started. Work through it top to bottom, or jump to whatever you need.
Shop managers: feel free to share this article with your artists as a setup checklist.
Here's what you'll set up:
Your availability, payments, and booking settings
Your booking form, booking site, and social links
The day-to-day: virtual consultations, walk-ins, and checkout
🗓️ Set your availability
Your availability controls when clients can book you. Go to Profile → Availability & Scheduling → Availability, where you'll find three things.
Weekly hours
Tap into Weekly Hours.
Tap any day to set it open or closed.
For open days, set your available hours.
Tap Save in the top right.
Day & time blocks
Use these to block off specific time — a recurring commitment like a doctor's appointment or childcare, or a one-off like a vacation week. Tap Add Time Block, set it up, and choose whether it repeats.
Trips & guest spots
Working a guest spot or convention somewhere else? Set it up here so clients see the right dates and location. See our full Guest Spots guide for the details.
💳 Set up your payments
Porter processes payments through Stripe, so you'll connect a Stripe account to get paid. Go to Profile → Payments & Reports → Payments Account and create your account:
Enter your phone number and email.
Add a few business details, like your country and business type.
Verify your personal details: legal name, date of birth, home address, phone, and the last four digits of your SSN.
Choose your industry ("other personal services" works), and add a support email and website.
Select a payout account — a bank account or debit card.
Add your statement descriptor (the public name customers see on their receipt), then finish.
Note: your website can be your shop's site or a public Instagram or Facebook page — it just needs to be public.
⚙️ Set your booking settings
These control how clients can book with you. Go to Profile → Availability & Scheduling → Booking Settings.
Book ahead limit — how many days into the future clients can schedule.
Book in advance — how much notice you need before an appointment (in hours).
Max appointments per day — an optional daily cap. It only limits client bookings; you can always override it.
Minimum appointment price — an optional price floor for bookings.
Stack days — urges clients to book on days you already have appointments, so you can take full days off.
Stack times — only shows clients your first or last open slot, so smaller appointments don't land mid-day. With it on, you can also have longer appointments start at the beginning of your day.
Cancellation policy — choose whether to allow cancellations, then write your policy for clients to see.
Client reschedules has a few parts. First, choose whether clients can reschedule at all — if off, they'll need to contact you directly. If on, set:
How many free reschedules they get before a fee applies.
The minimum notice (in days) they must give.
Your fee policy when they exceed those limits: charge a new deposit, always allow a free reschedule, charge a flat fee you set, or don't allow it.
📝 Customize your booking form
This is what clients fill out when they request you. Go to Profile → Booking Site → Customize Your Form.
Toggle questions on or off to choose what to collect. A few — like name and personal details — are required, but everything else is optional. Scroll to the bottom for Reset to Default if you ever want to go back to our recommended set of questions. Tap Save and your form updates right away.
🎨 Add your socials & booking site theme
Add your social links
From your Profile, tap Add Your Social Links at the top. Add your Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and website, then Save — they'll appear on your booking page.
Set your booking site theme
Go to the Booking Site section and tap Booking Site Theme. Start from a preset, or tap into each section to set your own colors and font. Tap Publish and your changes go live.
🔗 Share your booking link
This is the link clients use to book you. Go to Profile → Share Booking Link.
Copy your link from the top — this is the one to paste into your Instagram bio, TikTok, or anywhere you take bookings.
Save the QR code to your photos to share or print it anywhere.
Tip: customize your booking form before you share your link (see above) so you're asking clients exactly what you need.
💻 Set up virtual consultations (optional)
Want to meet clients before committing to a tattoo? Go to Profile → Availability & Scheduling → Virtual Consultations.
Toggle on virtual consultations, then choose how you'll meet: paste in a meeting link (like Zoom or Google Meet), or toggle on "I'll do consultations over the phone" so clients know to expect a call. Tap Save.
Once it's on, you'll always be able to choose in-person or virtual when you book a consultation.
🚶 Take a walk-in from the queue
If a walk-in comes in and you want to take them:
On the Calendar page, tap the person icon in the top-right corner to open the walk-in queue.
Tap a walk-in to see their details and when they joined, then tap the arrow in the bottom-right corner.
Assign yourself as the artist. Setting a price is optional — you can do it now or at checkout — and most clients have already completed their waiver during check-in.
Tap the arrow again to take it.
The walk-in moves onto your calendar, ready for checkout whenever you are.
✅ Check out a customer
When you're ready to check someone out:
On the Calendar page, open their appointment and tap Review and Checkout.
Enter the full price of the tattoo.
Choose how the customer pays: text them a payment link, manually enter their card, or record a cash or digital payment (like Zelle or Venmo). If your shop has a card reader, you'll also see a Send to Terminal Reader option.
Tap Review, add any extra items like aftercare or merch, then tap Charge.
If you texted a payment link, the customer taps it to pay — they can add a tip, then pay by card, Apple Pay, or Link (or with Affirm or Afterpay, if you offer it). Once it goes through, you'll see the payment completed, along with the total and any tip. Recording a cash or digital payment is quicker — just enter what they paid.
Note: if your shop's waiver has a service provider section, open the appointment to finalize it.
Tip: the payment link is also how customers pay if you're offering Buy Now, Pay Later.