What Should I Ask My Customers Before a Tattoo Session?

Every tattoo artist has lived this story: the client books a "small black-and-gray piece," shows up expecting full color the size of a forearm, forgot they're on blood thinners, didn't bring a reference, and now needs to be somewhere in 90 minutes. The session that should have flowed turns into damage control.

Almost all of that is avoidable. The difference between a smooth session and a stressful one is usually decided before anyone picks up a machine — in the questions you ask up front.

This guide walks through exactly what to ask your customers before a tattoo session, why each question matters, and how to collect the answers without drowning in DMs. At the end you'll find a copy-paste intake template you can start using today.

Why pre-session questions matter

Asking the right questions before a session isn't bureaucracy. It directly protects three things you care about:

Think of intake questions as the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy against a ruined session.

The questions, grouped by purpose

1. The design brief

You can't quote, prep, or draw without knowing what you're actually making.

2. Scheduling and logistics

3. Health and safety

This is the section that most protects you and your client. Keep it factual and routine — clients respect a professional who asks.

A short medical questionnaire, reviewed before the appointment, is far better than discovering a contraindication when the client is already in the chair.

4. Expectations and comfort

5. The practical confirmations

How to actually collect this — without the chaos

Knowing the questions is the easy part. The hard part is collecting the answers across Instagram DMs, emails, text messages, and the occasional voice note — then finding them again when the client walks in.

Most artists end up with information scattered everywhere:

When intake is scattered, you spend your evenings chasing people for the same details, re-explaining your policies, and re-typing aftercare. That's administrative time stolen from the work that actually pays — and from your life outside the studio.

A better approach is to send one structured intake form when the client books, so every answer lands in the same place, in a format you can scan in ten seconds before the session.

A ready-to-use pre-session intake template

Copy this, adapt it to your studio, and send it to every client when they book:

PRE-SESSION INTAKE — [Your Studio Name]

ABOUT YOU
- Full name:
- Date of birth (must be 18+):
- Phone / preferred contact:

THE TATTOO
- Describe the design:
- Placement on body:
- Approximate size (cm/in):
- Color or black-and-gray:
- Is this a cover-up? (yes/no — attach photo if yes):
- Reference images attached? (yes/no):
- Is this your first tattoo? (yes/no):

HEALTH & SAFETY
- Are you pregnant or breastfeeding? (yes/no):
- Any skin conditions near the area? (eczema, psoriasis, keloids):
- Any medications (blood thinners, Accutane, etc.):
- Any allergies (latex, inks, anesthetics):
- Heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy, or fainting history? (please specify):

ON THE DAY
- How much time can you commit?:
- Any comfort needs (breaks, music, support person):

CONFIRMATIONS
- I've read the deposit & cancellation policy (yes/no):
- I'll eat and hydrate before my session (yes/no):

Keep it short enough that clients actually finish it, but complete enough that nothing important reaches the chair as a surprise.

The bottom line

The best tattoo sessions are won before they begin. A clear design brief saves you from redrawing. A medical questionnaire protects everyone in the room. A confirmed policy prevents awkward conversations about deposits. And sending it all in one structured form means the answers are waiting for you, organized, instead of buried in a dozen message threads.

If you've ever finished a long day of tattooing only to spend your evening answering the same booking questions over and over, the problem usually isn't what you ask — it's how you collect it.

Build the intake form that matches your vibe with tattou.ink

Knowing the right questions is one thing. Sending them in a way that feels like you — and having every answer land in one organized place — is another. That's exactly what tattou.ink was built for.

With tattou.ink, you can create forms freely and shape them around your own style: add the fields you care about, drop the ones you don't, and word everything in your own voice so the form feels like an extension of your studio rather than a generic questionnaire. No two artists work the same way, and your intake shouldn't either.

Every form already comes with the essentials built in. By default, tattou.ink collects:

And for flash tattoo projects, tattou.ink collects the placement and size of each desired tattoo — so when a client picks several pieces from your flash, you already know exactly where each one goes and how big it needs to be before they sit down.

From there it's yours to customize: design briefs, medical questions, deposits, reference images, comfort needs — whatever your workflow calls for. Instead of chasing details across Instagram DMs, email, and texts, you get one structured form and one tidy place to read the answers before the client walks in.

If sending invites, replying to the same questions, and rescheduling sessions is eating your evenings, it's worth a look: tattou.ink.