Booking software for photographers: book, deliver and get paid in one place

Photography is two businesses stitched together. There is the booking side (filling dates, holding them, getting paid a deposit) and the delivery side (sending proofs, getting a selection back, selling the extras, handing over the finals). Most photographers run the first half in a calendar and DMs and the second half in email attachments and a separate gallery tool. Bookatu does both in one place, so a shoot flows from enquiry to delivered files without leaving the app.

Stop losing the date: deposits at booking

A photographer's worst loss is not a small fee, it is a held date that cancels the day before with nothing to show for it. Taking a deposit when the shoot is booked fixes the incentive: the client has skin in the game, and a no-show or late cancellation no longer costs you a whole day you could have sold. The deposit goes straight to your own bank through your connected account, and the balance can be collected on the day or on delivery.

Deliver like a pro: private proofing galleries

After the shoot, you upload your high-resolution files and Bookatu builds the client's view for you: a low-resolution preview with your watermark baked into the image, with the photo's hidden camera data stripped out. The client opens a private gallery, hearts the ones they love, and the full-resolution versions unlock once their selection is included or paid for. They never touch the finished files before the work is settled.

Sell the extra shots without the awkward email

Set how many photos are included in a package and a price per extra. When a client falls in love with more than their included set, the option to buy the extras is right there in the gallery, at the exact moment they are deciding. This is the quiet upsell that proofing tools are built around: a gentle included limit moves people to a decision, and the extra-photo button sits next to that decision. There is good evidence that fewer, clearer choices convert better than an overwhelming folder of 300 images, which is why an included-favourites count plus easy extras tends to beat "here is everything."

Protect your work until it is paid for

• Previews are low-resolution, so a screenshot is not a usable print.
• The watermark is part of the picture, not an overlay a browser can strip off.
• Full-resolution files only unlock for the photos that are included or paid.
• Each gallery is private to that client, reached by a secure, expiring link.

No protection makes image theft impossible, and it is honest to say so. But low-resolution, baked-in watermarks plus payment-gated downloads remove the easy, casual leak that costs photographers the most, while keeping the gallery open and easy to share.

Keep 100%: 0% commission, your clients stay yours

Marketplaces take a cut of every booking and sit between you and your client list. Bookatu charges you for the software, not a slice of your work: every booking, every gallery sale and every client record belongs to you, and payments land in your own bank account. You also get a branded booking page, automatic reminders, gift cards and packages, so the same tool that books the shoot also helps fill the quiet weeks.

If you are juggling a calendar, a deposit request, a gallery link and an invoice for every single job, that is four tools doing what one can. Book the shoot, deliver the proofs, sell the extras and get paid, all in the same place.