Quick Start Guide

1. Initial setup

• Create your account: Sign up with your email and a password, or continue with Google or Microsoft to identify your account. A verified provider identity can use the website without adding a ShootCal password. No Google or Microsoft account is required, and signing in with one does not connect its calendar.
• Connect a calendar (optional): Open Settings and connect Google or Microsoft if you want your schedule synced to that calendar.
• Set location: Enter your city so the app can accurately calculate your local sunset times, plus tides if you’re near the beach.
• Add session types: A new account starts with an empty list. Use Add with walkthrough or Add manually to create the kinds of shoots you offer, with your own durations and timing.
• On the web: Open app.shootcal.com on your computer or phone and sign in to the same ShootCal account.

2. Scheduling & editing

• Book a session: Click any date on the calendar, then click New Event.
• Fill details: Enter the client name and choose a session type. ShootCal uses that type’s timing rules, including sunset or sunrise if you’ve selected them. Check the details before saving.
• Track deposits: Toggle Deposit Received to instantly color-code the session as paid or unpaid.
• Edit: Click any event chip to view its details, then click Edit, or right-click the event for quick actions.
• Reschedule: Drag and drop events across the calendar grid to move them to a new date.

3. Session types

Manage shared session types on the web in Booking Setup. Save the timing, booking rules, and reusable follow-up suggestions you use for each kind of shoot, then choose a saved type when creating an appointment.

• Per-type defaults: Give each session type (Family, Senior, Wedding, Newborn, and so on) its own default length and color.
• Scheduling rule: Choose sunset, sunrise, studio hours, a fixed time, or all day. Set the booking limit and available weekdays for each type.

4. Clients

• Client manager: Open the Clients area to keep every client’s contact details, session history, and last-booked date in one place.
• Google Contacts: If you have older clients in the ShootCal Clients group, choose the explicit import to copy them into your saved ShootCal list. Review imported details; connecting Google does not automatically link or continuously sync your contacts.
• At a glance: See who is booked, how many sessions each client has had, and who is due for a follow-up.

5. Online booking and availability

• Turn on your booking page: Add your session types, then choose Turn on booking page in Clients & Booking. Clients can see open days for each type; names, locations, and event details stay private.
• Take requests: A client picks a session type, then an open day (or a flexible date range), and sends a booking request. It lands in your Booking Requests inbox inside the Clients area.
• Review requests: Accept a request to add the session to your calendar and save the client. Requests wait for your approval unless you choose instant booking for that session type. Replying to the notification email marks a request handled; it does not confirm a booking.

Open Booking Setup in the web app, add a bookable session type, choose your Primary Business Calendar, and save the booking page. ShootCal’s own calendar works without Google or Microsoft. Share the booking link or add it to your website.

6. Deposits, reminders, and reports

• Deposit tracking: Toggle Deposit Received on any session to color-code it paid or pending at a glance.
• Automatic reminders: ShootCal can send your clients a friendly reminder email before their session, so you do not have to.
• Reports: See booking trends and deposit flags, plus a separate cash-received summary for confirmed ShootCal invoice payments.

7. Contracts

• Build a template: Create a reusable contract for weddings, portraits, or any session type, in your own wording.
• Send it filled in: Generate a contract for a client with the package, total, and retainer already populated, then share the signing link.
• Online signing: Your client reviews and signs in their browser. You receive a notification when the contract is signed.

8. Invoices, payments, and accounting

Professional invoices are included with ShootCal at no extra cost. Use ShootCal for client billing, payments, refunds, and cash-basis reports; move to full accounting software when your business needs complete books.

• Create an invoice: Add the full job price and an optional deposit, using a saved package or your own items. The invoice uses your studio logo.
• Set sales tax: Save the label and rate you use, then choose whether to apply it to the invoice.
• Choose how clients pay: Connect your own Stripe account for card payments, or offer Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, check, cash, and custom instructions. ShootCal adds no payment or platform fee; Stripe’s standard processing fees still apply.
• Review cash received: Confirmed card and manual payments, partial or full refunds, sales tax, and outstanding balances feed cash-basis reports. Download the cash-received and invoice-list CSV exports when needed.
• Move to full bookkeeping when needed: ShootCal records business expenses and reports income less recorded expenses. Use Wave, QuickBooks, or another accounting system for bank reconciliation, formal profit-and-loss statements, payroll, or complete books. ShootCal does not connect or sync with those systems.

9. Using ShootCal on the web

Use the web app at app.shootcal.com for your calendar, clients, bookings, contracts, invoices, questionnaires, reports, and tasks. Sign in to the same ShootCal account you use on your other devices.

• Any device: Use the full web app on a Mac or Windows PC, an Android phone, or any modern browser. To give it its own window on a Mac, open it in Safari and choose File, then Add to Dock; in Chrome or Edge on a Mac or Windows PC, choose Install in the address bar. The iPhone, iPad, and Android apps require a compatible updated build for the current backend; use the web app until a compatible update is available for your device.
• Where setup lives: Your availability page, contracts, invoice terms, Stripe connection, manual payment methods, and reports are set up from the web app. Booking requests can be accepted from the native app, the web app, or straight from the notification email.

10. Navigation & shortcuts

• Search: Use the search field above the calendar to search your entire calendar by client name, session type, or location.
• Locations on Apple devices: Start typing a location in the session form to see Apple Maps address suggestions.

Mobile gestures (iPhone & iPad)

• Swipe to navigate between months.
• Tap any event chip for an instant read-only preview before editing.
• Long-press an event for more options.

11. Forms, tasks, galleries, and your website

Questionnaires: Build reusable client forms in the web app, send them before a session, and keep each response with the client. Read the questionnaires guide

Tasks: Save to-dos in ShootCal without connecting a calendar. On the web, review the follow-up tasks suggested by a session type before saving an appointment; adjust or exclude them for that session. Creating a task does not send a client message. Read the tasks guide

Galleries: Create a client gallery from a booking, publish the finished photos from Lightroom Classic, then send one branded link for downloads and favorites. Start the Galleries guide

Website: Choose a design, add your photos and galleries, and edit the page text. Preview the draft before publishing. Free Website hosting includes Home and an optional Contact page; Basic ($5/month), Plus, and Pro host all six pages, and Plus and Pro add custom domains. New accounts receive a six-month Basic Website trial with no automatic charge; existing accounts retain their promised full Website access. The same blocks, eight looks, and six editable page slots are available on every plan. Read the website builder guide

12. System requirements

• iOS or iPadOS 26 or later for the iPhone and iPad apps
• Any modern web browser for the web app at app.shootcal.com, which you can install in its own window on a Mac or Windows PC
• No Google or Microsoft account required — connecting one is optional and adds calendar sync
• An internet connection for background syncing