How to ‘Try On’ Your Tattoo Before Buying It

September 18, 2009 by Ben Swank 

Welcome to our tattoo finder blog, where we cover all things tattoo-related from an industry insider's perspective. We keep this blog updated pretty regularly with new contents and tattoos pictures, so keep checking in with us. And of course, fire away with any ideas you might have for us or pictures of tattoos you'd like to share.

Choosing a tattoo should be a methodical process. The biggest mistake you can possibly make is to walk into a tattoo parlor, browse through their artwork for a few minutes, and then site down in the chair to get inked.

You need to take your time. Decide what your tattoo should mean to you, decide which types of design styles you like the best, determine what colors work the best for you, etc. That's one of the reasons I like tattoo finders so much: they let you you look through and 'try' thousands of tattoo designs before committing to one. But looking isn't the same thing as having, is it?

For that reason, you might want to 'try your tattoo on' before you actually commit to inking in permanently. There are a few ways to go about this, but here are my tips for doing so:

First, choose your tattoo's location. If you have an idea of your style, great; but if not, don't worry about it. Just try to get a feel for whether you want (for example) a hip tattoo, a shoulder tattoo, a lower back tattoo, etc. When you've made this decision, either draw (or have a friend draw) a relevant tattoo on your skin using a medium-tipped colored Sharpie. The design isn't important -- in fact, it could throw you off by forcing you to focus on the design and not the position -- what is important is the location and size. Keep looking at that Sharpie tattoo over the next few days, and see if you change your mind on position or size. Keep tweaking this until you get it right.

Once you have a design and a location in mind, have your friend draw the design in fine-tipped colored Sharpies. Personally, I think you should get as realistic as you can at this point, and you can do this by doing what the tattoo artists do.

  1. Get yourself some professional transfer paper. This is the paper that tattoo artists use to transfer a design from a book to your skin.
  2. Trace the design onto the transfer paper. Using a lightbox will make this step much easier, but of course, they cost money!
  3. Transfer the design onto your skin with the transfer paper.
  4. Pick up a box of fine-tipped, multicolor Sharpies, and have your friend draw and fill in the traced image.

Once you've done that, keep looking at your tattoo over the next several days. Think of this as a little test drive that you can take to ensure that your chosen design is right for you. Really, it sounds simple, but it's pretty powerful. You can see, with a high degree of accuracy and realism, what that tattoo is going to look like on your skin. If you don't like, just scrub really hard and try again with a clean canvas!

Here are some transfer paper examples:

10 Spirit Hectograph Stencil Tattoo Transfer Paper
10 Spirit Hectograph Stencil Tattoo Transfer Paper
Paypal   US $9.99
5 Sheet A4 Tattoo Stencil Transfer Paper for Ink Kits
5 Sheet A4 Tattoo Stencil Transfer Paper for Ink Kits
Paypal   US $7.52
100 Tattoo Thermal SPIRIT Master Transfer Copier Paper
100 Tattoo Thermal SPIRIT Master Transfer Copier Paper
Paypal   US $39.99
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Stencil Transfer 100 Sheets
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Stencil Transfer 100 Sheets
Paypal   US $34.95
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Master Transfer Copier 50pk
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Master Transfer Copier 50pk
Paypal   US $21.95
10 pcs Tattoo Thermal Stencil Transfer Paper Supply
10 pcs Tattoo Thermal Stencil Transfer Paper Supply
Paypal   US $1.29
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Master Transfer Copier 10pk
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Master Transfer Copier 10pk
Paypal   US $8.45
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Stencil Transfer Sheet 5 pk
Tattoo Thermal Paper SPIRIT Stencil Transfer Sheet 5 pk
Paypal   US $5.45
100 Tattoo Stencil Transfer OUTLINE Tracing Paper Sheet
100 Tattoo Stencil Transfer OUTLINE Tracing Paper Sheet
Paypal   US $39.99
TATTOO STENCIL MAKER TRANSFER COPIER THERMAL MACHINE
TATTOO STENCIL MAKER TRANSFER COPIER THERMAL MACHINE
Paypal   US $279.00
10 Spirit Master Thermal Stencil Tattoo Transfer Paper
10 Spirit Master Thermal Stencil Tattoo Transfer Paper
Paypal   US $7.99
TATTOO STENCIL MAKER TRANSFER COPIER MACHINE KITLIGHT
TATTOO STENCIL MAKER TRANSFER COPIER MACHINE KITLIGHT
Paypal   US $249.00
Tattoo Stencil Magic Transfer Solution Tracing paper
Tattoo Stencil Magic Transfer Solution Tracing paper
Paypal   US $15.99
Tattoo Thermal Copier Stencil Maker Transfer Machine B
Tattoo Thermal Copier Stencil Maker Transfer Machine B
Paypal   US $249.99
NEW STENCIL PRO TATTOO TRANSFER SOLUTION 4OZ BOTTLE
NEW STENCIL PRO TATTOO TRANSFER SOLUTION 4OZ BOTTLE
Paypal   US $5.49
25 PCS A4 Hectograph Stencil Tattoo Transfer Paper
25 PCS A4 Hectograph Stencil Tattoo Transfer Paper
Paypal   US $.01
Tattoo Thermal Stencil Transfer Paper Practice Skin
Tattoo Thermal Stencil Transfer Paper Practice Skin
Paypal   US $3.59
New Tattoo Transfer Copier Series 918 w transfer paper
New Tattoo Transfer Copier Series 918 w transfer paper
Paypal   US $280.00
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And here are some lightbox examples:

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Comments

2 Responses to “How to ‘Try On’ Your Tattoo Before Buying It”

  1. Tattoo Finder: Why it’s the Best Way to Go | EasyTattooFinder.com on January 20th, 2009 10:18 PM

    [...] You can use transfer paper to temporarily put the full design on your body for a few days (see this post to learn how). In short, you are able to spend as much time as you want to view and try on as many [...]

  2. A Neat Trick to Avoid a Bad Tattoo Design - the Tattoo Styles website on February 11th, 2009 6:17 AM

    [...] artists use in studios to transfer tattoo designs onto your skin. You can find samples on this tattoo finder blog. You’ll trace your design onto the transfer paper (you can even use a lightbox), and [...]

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