Managing Availability

By creavio Team April 10, 2026 1 views

Managing Availability

Nothing is worse than a client booking a Tuesday morning when you edit on Tuesdays. Or booking the Saturday you already told someone else about. Availability settings prevent these conflicts before they happen.

Setting Your Weekly Hours

  1. Go to Bookings > Availability
  2. You will see a weekly grid. Click each day to set your available time blocks.
  3. For each day, set one or more time ranges (e.g., Monday: 9am–12pm, 2pm–6pm)
  4. Toggle days off entirely if you do not shoot on them
  5. Click Save

These are your default weekly hours. Clients can only book during these windows. If you shoot Saturdays 8am–6pm and never on Sundays, set that once and forget it.

Buffer Time

Buffer time is the gap between sessions. You set this in two places:

  • Per session type — each session type can have its own buffer (e.g., 30 min before and after portraits, 60 min for weddings)
  • Global default — set a minimum buffer in Availability settings that applies to all session types unless overridden

Buffer time accounts for travel, setup, breaks, and the fact that sessions rarely end exactly on time.

Blocking Specific Dates

For vacations, personal commitments, or days you are already booked through another channel:

  1. Go to Bookings > Availability
  2. Click Block Dates
  3. Select the date or date range
  4. Optionally add a reason (only visible to you)
  5. Click Block

Blocked dates override your weekly hours. Even if you normally shoot on Saturdays, a blocked Saturday shows as unavailable to clients.

Date-Specific Overrides

Sometimes you want to work outside your normal hours. Maybe you are offering mini sessions on a Sunday that you normally take off.

  1. In the availability calendar, click the specific date
  2. Select Custom Hours
  3. Set the hours for that date only
  4. This overrides the weekly default for that one day

Advance Notice and Booking Window

Under Scheduling Rules:

  • Minimum notice — how far in advance clients must book. Setting 48 hours means nobody can book for tomorrow. Most photographers set 2–7 days.
  • Maximum advance — how far out clients can book. 3 months is common for portraits, 12–18 months for weddings.
  • Start time increments — sessions start on the hour, half hour, or 15-minute marks. Prevents odd 10:17am bookings.

Timezone Handling

Your availability is set in your local timezone (configured in Settings > Account). When clients in other timezones view your booking page, they see times converted to their local time. A 2pm slot for you in Eastern Time shows as 11am for a client in Pacific.

Syncing with External Calendars

If you also book through other channels, connect your Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook. Events from those calendars automatically block the same times on your creavio booking page, preventing double-bookings.