Show HN: Pencild – A CRM for tattoo artists and studios
by iamacyborg | 2026-01-30 16:49:35+00:00
Hey HN,

I built Pencild, a CRM specifically for tattoo artists and studios. Here's what it actually does:

Email and Instagram DMs. Connects to Gmail, Outlook, or IMAP. Full email client with folders, labels, compose, reply, bulk operations, search. Separately, connects to Instagram Business accounts via the Graph API for DM management. Background sync runs every few minutes, Instagram webhooks push messages in real-time. The app tracks Instagram's 24-hour messaging window so you know when you can still reply to someone.

Client database. Profiles build up from your conversations. Store multiple email addresses, phone numbers, Instagram handles, physical addresses. Link emails and Instagram conversations to clients automatically by address/username. Merge duplicate clients when the same person contacts you through different channels. VIP flags, auto-archive rules, blacklisting.

Calendar. Two-way sync with Google Calendar, Outlook or other calendar. Create appointments with types like consultation, tattoo session, touch-up, design review. Link appointments to clients and projects. Track no-shows. Set up saved locations with timezone handling.

Deposits. Stripe Connect integration. Define deposit policies with percentages and cancellation terms. Generate payment links clients can use without logging in. Track payment status, record cash or bank transfer payments manually. The system calculates what's owed, what's paid, and what the artist nets after Stripe fees.

Consent Forms. Create consent form templates with a rich text editor. Attach health questionnaires. Generate QR codes clients can scan to sign. Track signatures with timestamps. Download signed forms as PDFs. Configurable retention policies for legal compliance.

Ink passport and supply tracking. This one's for EU compliance with EN 17169:2020. Maintain an inventory of inks and needles with batch numbers and expiration dates. Record which supplies were used in each session, down to body area. Generate ink passports showing every ink used on a client, exportable as PDF or emailed directly. Automatically create tasks when supplies of any given ink or needle type run low.

Message templates and automations. Create reusable templates for emails and Instagram DMs with variable substitution. Set up calendar automations to send confirmations on booking, reminders before appointments, follow-ups after sessions.

Projects and tasks. Track multi-session pieces as projects. Create tasks with due dates, link them to clients or appointments. Recurring tasks with daily/weekly/monthly schedules.

Studios. Artists can work solo or join studios as residents or guests. Granular permissions control what studios can see. Studios can subsidize artist subscriptions. When an artist leaves a studio, their client data, appointments, and projects get duplicated to their personal workspace so they don't lose anything. Add Studio Manager users to manage the studio.

Encryption. Field-level encryption on sensitive data: email bodies, client phone numbers and addresses, financial amounts, message content, consent form content, etc. Search still works through HMAC-SHA256 tokens.

Stack is Django, Postgres, HTMX, Redis, Celery for background jobs. Files go to Cloudflare R2. Hosted on Railway.

https://www.pencild.co