Quickstart - What Is PencilCase

Quickstart - Who is it for?

Quickstart - The Pencil System

Quickstart - Scheduling in PencilCase

Quickstart - Challenges and pencil order

Quickstart - How blocks appear to studios and freelancers

Quickstart - Freelancer Quick Start

Quickstart - Freelancer Scheduling Calendar

Quickstart - Studio Quick Start

Quickstart - Studio Booking Dashboard

Quickstart - Booking Etiquette & Best Practice

Scheduling in PencilCase

PencilCase uses pencils, confirmed bookings and DND to describe availability. Ownership determines what information is visible, while dummy blocks allow freelancers to block out time without assigning a studio.

✏️ Pencil Types

  • 1st Pencil: primary tentative booking.
  • 2nd Pencil: secondary hold below an existing 1st pencil.
  • Confirmed: locked booking that cannot be challenged.
  • Unavailable: a block the viewer cannot interact with.
  • DND: private downtime that hides availability entirely.
  • Available: empty space with no bookings.

🔐 Ownership

  • The freelancer and the owning studio see project names and notes.
  • Other studios only see status labels such as Challengeable or Unavailable.
  • Cancelled pencils are removed immediately.
  • DND blocks cannot be interacted with by studios.

🟪 Dummy Blocks (Unassigned Bookings)

Freelancers can create pencils or confirmed bookings without assigning a studio. These are called dummy blocks.

They behave like normal blocks, except they have no studio owner.

Dummy 1st Pencil

  • Visible to all studios as challengeable.
  • Can be challenged.
  • No project or studio name is shown.

Dummy 2nd Pencil

  • Appears as a 2nd-pencil block.
  • Blocks the 1st pencil above it from being challenged by other studios.

Dummy Confirmed

  • Appears to all studios as Unavailable.
  • Cannot be challenged.
  • The freelancer sees full details.

Dummy blocks allow freelancers to privately protect time while preserving correct pencil logic.

➕ Creating Bookings

👤 Freelancer

  • Click an empty period on your timeline.
  • Choose: 1st Pencil, 2nd Pencil, Confirmed or DND.
  • Optional: assign a studio to create an owned booking.
  • Leaving the studio blank creates a dummy block.
  • Add project name, dates and notes.
  • Save.

🏢 Studio

  • Click an empty slot on a connected freelancer’s row.
  • The freelancer is preselected.
  • Choose: 1st Pencil, 2nd Pencil or Confirmed.
  • Add project name, dates and notes.