Getting Started with ShootMuse

Welcome to ShootMuse. This guide walks you through everything you need to do in your first five minutes — from signing up to creating your first session. By the end, you'll have a working studio management setup and a clear understanding of where everything lives.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Head to shootmuse.com and click Start Free Trial. Enter your name, email address, and a password. You'll receive a confirmation email — click the link to verify your account, and you'll land on your dashboard.

No credit card is required for the trial. You get full access to every feature for 14 days, including AI tools, gallery delivery, invoicing, and contracts.

Step 2: Set Up Your Profile

Before doing anything else, head to Settings in the bottom of the sidebar. This is where you configure the basics that affect everything else in the platform:

• Business name and logo — These appear on your invoices, contracts, client portal, and gallery pages. Upload a logo that works well on both light and dark backgrounds.
• Contact information — Your address, phone number, and email. This pre-fills into contracts and invoice footers automatically.
• Time zone — ShootMuse uses your time zone setting for session scheduling, calendar views, and automated workflow triggers. Set this correctly to avoid confusion with clients in different regions.
• Email signature — Scroll to the "Email & SMTP" section to add a default signature that gets appended to every email you send through the platform.

Step 3: Understand the Sidebar

The sidebar is your primary navigation. It's organized into three groups:

MANAGE

• Dashboard — Your home base. Shows upcoming sessions, recent activity, revenue stats, and AI-generated business insights. The dashboard updates in real time as you add clients and sessions.
• Clients — Your full client database. Every contact, with their session history, invoices, contracts, and communication timeline in one place.
• Sessions — All your shoots, organized by date. Each session links to a client, a location, invoices, contracts, and a gallery.
• Galleries — Your photo delivery hub. Create galleries, upload images, organize them into albums, and share private links with clients.
• Locations — A database of venues and shoot locations. Add addresses, notes, and let the AI generate lighting and venue tips for each one.

BUSINESS

• Contracts — Create, send, and track contract signatures. Use templates with variable placeholders that auto-fill with client and session details.
• Invoices — Build invoices, send them to clients, track payments, record partial payments, and set up installment plans.
• Reports — Five tabs of business analytics: Revenue, Bookings, Galleries, Clients, and Tax Summary. See trends, compare periods, and get AI-powered revenue forecasts.

TOOLS

• Workflows — Automated task sequences. For example: "When a session is booked, send a confirmation email, then send a questionnaire 7 days before, then send a reminder 1 day before."
• Lead Forms — Embeddable contact forms that feed leads directly into your client pipeline. Customize fields, styles, and auto-responders.
• Email Templates — A library of reusable email templates with variable substitution. Use them manually or attach them to workflows.
• Calendar — A monthly and weekly view of all your sessions, with color coding by session type and status.

Step 4: Add Your First Client

Click the + New Client button at the top of the Clients page. Fill in the basics:

• Name and email (required)
• Phone number (optional but recommended)
• Tags — Free-form labels like "wedding," "returning," or "VIP." Use these to filter and segment later.
• Notes — Anything you want to remember about this client. Preferences, referral source, special requests.

Once saved, you'll see the client's detail page with tabs for sessions, invoices, contracts, communications, and AI insights.

Step 5: Create Your First Session

Navigate to Sessions and click + New Session. Here's what to fill in:

• Client — Select the client you just added (or create a new one inline).
• Session type — Wedding, Portrait, Event, Engagement, Newborn, or any custom type you define.
• Date and time — This places the session on your calendar automatically.
• Location — Select from your saved locations or add a new one. If you've enriched the location with AI, you'll see lighting tips and venue notes right on the session detail page.
• Package and price — The financial details that can auto-populate into an invoice later.

After saving, the session appears on your calendar, in the client's timeline, and on your dashboard's upcoming sessions list.

Step 6: Explore the Dashboard

Go back to the Dashboard. You should now see:

• Your upcoming session in the "Upcoming Sessions" section
• A new entry in the activity feed showing the client and session you created
• Revenue stats (currently at $0 — they'll populate as you create invoices and record payments)
• An AI insights widget that analyzes your booking patterns and suggests next steps

The dashboard is designed to be your daily starting point. Open ShootMuse, glance at the dashboard, and know exactly what needs your attention today.

What to Do Next

Now that you have the basics set up, here are the most impactful things to configure next:

1. Connect your email — Go to Settings → Email & SMTP and connect your Gmail or business email. This lets you send invoices, contracts, and automated emails directly from your address. See our SMTP setup guide for step-by-step instructions.
2. Set up invoice templates — Head to Invoices and create your first template with your standard line items, payment terms, and branding. See the invoicing guide.
3. Import existing clients — If you're migrating from another platform, use the CSV import to bring over your full client list. See our migration guide.
4. Create a workflow — Automate your most repetitive sequence. A good first workflow: "After booking, send confirmation email → send questionnaire 7 days before → send reminder 1 day before."