What does a shoot have to earn?
Darzen Studio is the back office for a one-person photography or video business. Put in your overheads, the salary you want to pay yourself, a tax set-aside and the shoots you want in a year, and it works out what one shoot has to earn. Then every package, every booking and every month is measured against that number.
- The App, Google Sheets and Excel in one purchase
- A cost-of-doing-business number built only from your own figures
- Real profit per package after second shooter, album, travel and card fees
- One price, free updates, no monthly fee
Login emailed right after checkout · One-time payment · Free updates
The real app with one sample studio in it. Your copy starts empty.
Works on the devices you already use
- The AppAny modern browser, works offline
- Google SheetsFree Google account
- Excel2010 or later, Windows and Mac
- Phone and tabletThe App and Sheets on the go
Every screen. Watch them change hands.
These are the real screens, cycling. Tap any one to hold it.
What's inside
Real screens. No mock-ups.
Every picture is the actual product with one sample studio in it. Tap any screen to see it full size.
Why it works
Built for one photographer and your own numbers.
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Three editions, one price
Use the App on your laptop and phone, keep the Google Sheet in your Drive, or open the Excel file. All three come with every purchase.
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One number to price against
Yearly overheads plus the salary you set, grossed up for the tax you set aside, divided by the shoots you want. That is what one shoot has to earn, and every package is shown over or under it.
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Packages with their real costs
Second shooter hours at your second's rate, album and print cost, travel, card fees. You see what is left after those, the profit after your own editing time, and the figure per hour of shoot, editing and admin time together.
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Retainers and installments on a schedule
Each booking carries its own payment lines with their dates. You see what is due this month, what is past its date and what is booked across the year but not yet in the bank.
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A gallery clock you set yourself
The pipeline runs Booked, Shot, Culled, Edited, Delivered, Album ordered. The clock starts on the shoot date, runs against the turnaround you promise and flags a gallery before it is late.
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Your studio stays private
The App keeps everything in your own browser, never on our servers. Back it up in one click and restore it on any device.
Everything in Studio
One back office. Every part of the money.
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The App1
Today: what needs you first
Open it and see the next shoot with a countdown and what is still to collect before the day, the galleries that are late or close to it, the payments past their dates, and how the year is doing against your own number.
- Next shoot countdown
- Late and at-risk galleries
- Overdue payments
- This year against your number
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The App2
Bookings: the pipeline you drag
Every shoot is a card with the client, the date, the package, the price and what it leaves you an hour. Drag it from Booked to Album ordered, or press Alt and an arrow key. Every move can be undone.
- Drag and drop
- Undo every move
- Search and filters
- Board or list
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The App3
Pricing: the number, then the packages
List your yearly overheads, set the salary you want, the tax you set aside and the shoots you want. Every package is then shown with its cash costs, what it leaves, the profit per hour and how many of it alone would carry the year.
- Cost of doing business
- Profit per total hour
- Over or under the number
- Which packages carry the year
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The App4
Money: retainers, installments, balances
One line per agreed payment, with the date it falls due. Filter to what is outstanding, due this month, overdue or already paid, record a payment against a line, and see what is booked across the year but not yet collected.
- Retainer and installment plans
- Due this month and overdue
- Collected against what fell due
- Booked, not collected
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The App5
The year: where the gaps are
Bookings by month against what a month has to bring in, which kinds of shoot fill which months, and a plain list of the months with nothing booked in them at all.
- Month by month
- Against your monthly target
- Empty months
- Calendar year or next twelve
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Google Sheets and Excel6
Google Sheets and Excel
The same back office as a workbook: Dashboard, Cost of doing business, Packages, Clients, Bookings, Payments and Deliverables. Yellow cells are where you type; everything else updates itself.
- Excel 2010 or later
- No macros
- Example and blank copies
- Prints neatly
Try it first
Click around. Then decide.
Open the real app with one sample studio in it and try everything. Nothing you type is saved.
Things to try
- Change the salary or the tax set-aside and watch every package move
- Add an overhead and see what a shoot now has to earn
- Drag a booking from Shot to Edited on the pipeline
- Record a payment against an overdue installment
Google Sheets and Excel share the same tabs and formulas. Shown with the example studio; your copy starts blank.
How it works
From checkout to your own number in minutes.
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Check out securely
Pay on Shopify's secure checkout. You see the full price, with any tax, before you pay.
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Get your login
Your Darzen username and password arrive by email right after payment.
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Open your editions
Open the App on up to two devices, copy the Google Sheet to your Drive, or download the Excel file.
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Put in your figures
Your overheads, the salary you want, the tax you set aside and the shoots you want in a year. Then price your packages against the number that comes out.
One price
Everything on this page. One payment.
No subscription and no upsells. Updates are free for every buyer.
- The Studio App, works offline on two devices
- Google Sheets edition, your own copy in Drive
- Excel edition, blank copy and example copy
- Cost-of-doing-business calculator from your own figures
- Packages with real costs, profit per package and per hour
- Retainer and installment schedules with overdue and due-this-month
- A deliverables pipeline with your own turnaround clock
- Free updates for every buyer
Secure checkout by Shopify. Your Darzen login is emailed right after payment. Refund policy
Not sure yet? Try the live demo first
A few good answers
Questions, answered.
Delivery, devices, updates and your data. Still curious? We reply to every email.
Ask us a questionHow do I get my files?
Right after checkout we email you a Darzen username and password. Sign in to your Darzen account to download the App and the Excel files, and to make your own copy of the Google Sheets edition.
Does it send contracts or galleries to my clients?
No. Studio holds no contract text, has no signature field, stores no images and sends no email. Your contracts, your gallery delivery and your client messages stay wherever you already do them. Studio keeps the money, the schedule and the pipeline, and it takes no card payments either — you record the ones you have already taken.
Where do the numbers in the calculator come from?
From you. Every overhead, the salary you want to pay yourself, the tax percentage you set aside and the shoots you want in a year are figures you type in. The ones loaded at the start are placeholders so you can see the arithmetic working, and they are labelled as placeholders. Nothing in Studio is an industry rate, a benchmark or a recommendation, and the tax set-aside is a planning figure, not tax advice.
Which edition should I use?
All three come with every purchase, so you do not have to choose. The App feels like software and works offline, Google Sheets lives in your Google account, and Excel is a file you keep.
Which version of Excel do I need?
Excel 2010 or later on Windows and Mac, or Excel for the web. The workbook has no macros.
Does the App need the internet?
Only once, to sign in with the login we email you. After that it opens from the file on your device and works offline.
Where is my data kept?
In the browser on your own device, never on our servers. Your clients, your prices and your figures stay there. Save a backup file in one click and restore it on any device or browser.
Does it work on my phone?
The App works in your phone's browser and the Google Sheets edition works in the Sheets app. Sign in on up to two devices.
How do updates work?
Updates are free. When a new version is ready, it appears in your Darzen account and the App tells you.
Can I get a refund?
See our refund policy, linked next to the price. Try the live demo first so you know exactly what you are getting.
One app. One Google Sheet. One Excel workbook.
