Creating a Tattoo Waiver Template
The Tattoo template is Waiverly's ready-made waiver for tattoo studios. It records your artists and their licenses, can include a medical history questionnaire, and has a Tattoo Details section where the artist logs the session, including the inks used, after the client has filled in their part. You work through a short step-by-step builder, switch on what you need, and the waiver is ready to sign on a device in your studio or through a form link.
This guide walks through the five steps you see when creating the waiver, how to fine-tune the settings, and what your client and your artist each complete.
In short: Create Template → Tattoo → name the waiver, set its language and jurisdiction, add your artists → choose your settings → adjust the waiver sections → confirm the legal details → check the preview and save.
Before you start
The builder is quicker if you have these to hand:
- Your artists' names and license numbers. Every artist entry needs both; if there is no license number, type "n/a".
- Your location: the country, state and city where the studio operates. This sets the legal jurisdiction the waiver is written for.
- The language you want the waiver in (English, Spanish or French). It can't be changed after the waiver is created.
Open the menu (☰), tap Create Template, choose the Tattoo tile and tap Let's get started.
Step 1: Tattoo Artists
- Enter a Waiver Name (up to 50 characters). This is the name you'll see on the Waiver Forms screen.
- In the Waiver language card, tap the selected language, pick English, Spanish or French and tap Apply. This sets the language of the generated waiver text and the PDF. You can set it during creation only.
- Under the notice asking you to specify your business location, fill in Country (United States of America is selected by default), State and City.
- Under Add tattoo artist, enter the Artist Name and License Number, then tap Add Tattoo Artist. Repeat for each artist currently working at your shop. Each one appears in the list below with a trash icon to remove them. If you have no licensed artists to list, type "n/a" as the app suggests.
- Tap Next. The button stays disabled until the required fields are filled in.
Screen needed: Step 1 Tattoo Artists, phone layout, with the Waiver Name filled in (e.g. "Studio Tattoo Waiver"), the Waiver language card showing English, Country/State/City filled in, and one artist already in the list (e.g. "Alex Moreno · License TA-3187") above the empty Add tattoo artist fields. Show: the artist list with its trash icon under the Add Tattoo Artist button.
Step 2: Waiver Settings
The Compliance Settings card lets you "configure common compliance requirements for locations with a specific regulatory template." Tap Show More to reveal the rest of the list. Each setting adds or removes a part of the waiver; switch on only what your studio uses.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Require ID Photo | Adds a Client ID Capture step where the client photographs or uploads their ID. |
| Tattoo Details | Adds key details about the tattoo, including the artist, date, placement, description and colors used. The client describes the tattoo and its placement; the artist completes the rest after the client submits. |
| Medical History | Asks the client to answer commonly required medical questions before being tattooed. |
| Sterilization Details | Lets the artist record sterilization information for the instruments used, such as the sterilization date or lot number and the sterilizer used. |
| Military Info | Adds military-related information to the client's intake. |
| Special Instructions | Adds a field for the artist to provide notes or special guidance related to the client's tattoo procedure. |
| Supporting Documents | Lets the client upload any additional documents relevant to their tattoo procedure. |
| Acceptance Statement | Has clients confirm they acknowledge the risks and take responsibility. |
| Email Waiver Submissions via Waiverly | Emails the signed waiver to the client once the submission is completed. |
| Accept Form Link Submissions | Lets clients fill out and sign the waiver through the template's form link. When it's off, the link only displays the waiver. |
| Skip Submission Review | Lets a form-link client complete and sign in one go. It's greyed out while Tattoo Details is on: "Submission review is required while Tattoo Details is enabled." |
| Age Restriction | No Age Restriction, or Minimum Age Requirement with the age you enter. |
| Media Consent | Asks the client for permission to use photos of their tattoo. |
| Custom Clauses | Adds a step where the client initials each of your liability clauses. |
| How You Found Us | Asks the client how they heard about you, which feeds the Client Acquisition Sources chart in Analytics. |
Screen needed: Step 2 Waiver Settings, phone layout, scrolled so that Tattoo Details (on), Accept Form Link Submissions (on) and Skip Submission Review (greyed out) are all visible. Show: the grey "Submission review is required while Tattoo Details is enabled." note under Skip Submission Review.
Step 3: Customization
This step holds the written sections of your waiver, in the order they'll appear in the PDF.
- Under Create custom sections, enter a Section title and the Section content. To have Waiverly write a first draft, tap the sparkle (AI) button and edit the result.
- Tap Add Section. It joins the list under Sections in your waiver.
- Drag the sections to reorder them. "This is the order used in the PDF."
- Tap Next.
Step 4: Jurisdiction
The Jurisdiction & Legal Compliance step records the legal references behind your waiver.
- Optionally, enter a law or regulation web address under Add Law URL (up to 250 characters) and tap +. You can add more than one.
- Add any Additional Legal Notes (up to 300 characters).
- Tick I confirm that the above information is accurate and understand its legal implications.
- Tap Save & Proceed.
Screen needed: Step 4 Jurisdiction & Legal Compliance of the Tattoo builder, phone layout, with one law URL added, a short note in Additional Legal Notes and the confirmation checkbox ticked. Show: the Save & Proceed button at the bottom.
Step 5: Preview
The last step shows the generated waiver as a PDF. Page through it, go back to any step if something needs changing, and tap the button at the bottom to save. The template then appears on the Waiver Forms screen with a Tattoo category chip.
What your client sees
On a device in your studio, tap the template card on Waiver Forms, choose New Client or Return Client and hand the device over. Through a form link, the client opens the link on their own phone. Either way, they start with a PDF Preview of the waiver, then move through the steps you enabled: Client Information, Client ID Capture, Supporting Documents, Medical History, Tattoo Details, Custom Clauses, Media Consent and How You Found Us, finishing with a PDF Preview of what they entered. Steps that aren't switched on are skipped.
In the client's part of Tattoo Details they describe the tattoo they're getting and its body location. Everything else in Tattoo Details is left for the artist.
Because Tattoo Details is on, a form-link client taps Submit for Review rather than signing straight away, and the submission waits on your Form Links screen until your team taps Proceed, to enter the fields required by them.
What your artist completes
The handoff screen greets the client by name ("You're almost done, <Name>!") and asks them to notify their tattoo artist to fill in the relevant fields. Under Artist Requirements it lists what the artist will complete: Tattoo Details, plus Sterilization Details and Special Instructions if you enabled them.
- The client hands the device back. The artist taps I am the Artist - Proceed. If the device is in Client Mode, the PIN is asked for first.
- Select the artist from your Step 1 list and enter the Session Date.
- Under Tattoo Colors, add each ink used with its manufacturer, dye lot and expiration date.
- Fill in Special Instructions and sterilization details if they're part of the template, and add the artist's signature if one is required.
- Check the final review. The client then signs, either on the device or from the email they receive for a form link.
Screen needed: the artist section of a Tattoo waiver on a phone, after I am the Artist - Proceed, with an artist selected, today's session date and one Tattoo Colors entry filled in (e.g. Black · manufacturer "Example Ink Co." · dye lot "B-2291" · expiration 06/2027). Show: the manufacturer, dye lot and expiration fields of the colour entry.
Tip: the colors, manufacturers, dye lots and expiration dates your artists record here are what Tattoo Waiver Analytics uses for its Pigment Usage Overview and Pigment Expiration Status charts. Use the same spelling each time (for example always "Black" rather than "Blk") so the charts stay tidy.
Good to know
- Language is permanent. In Edit waiver the Waiver Language card is locked: "This waiver language is locked because it can only be set during creation." Create a separate template for each language you offer.
- Skip Submission Review is only available with Tattoo Details off, which also removes the artist's session record and the pigment data behind Tattoo analytics.
- State-specific templates: some US states may use their own regulatory tattoo template; if you're unsure which applies to your studio, contact support before you rely on the waiver.
- Editing later: your form link keeps working after an edit and shows the updated waiver.