How to Make Tattoos in Photoshop

Experiment with tattoo making in Photoshop.

If the design you're mulling over about adding to your body just can't be found on some "flash" wall and you want a custom design sure to stand out at the gym, beach or office, make your own tattoo using Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop may be a go-to option for people designing logos, editing digital photos or creating abstract artwork, but its tools for drawings offer an ideal canvas for you to experiment on before committing anything to the permanent canvas of your skin.

Instructions

1. Open Adobe Photoshop. Click the "File" menu. Click the "New" option. Type the tattoo name in the "Name" box, such as "Tattoo." Type the dimensions -- getting as close to realistic as possible -- into the "Width" and "Height" boxes, such as "4" and "2" respectively.

2. Pull down the dimensions menus for each and click "inches." Pull down the "Background Contents" menu and click "Transparent." Click "OK" to open the workspace. Pull down the "View" menu and click "Fit on Screen" to enlarge the workspace, giving you more room to design the tattoo.

3. Double-click the "Color Picker," the two overlapping colored squares at the bottom of the "Tools" palette. Choose the first color for the tattoo and click "OK."

4. Click the "Brush" tool, which looks like a paintbrush in the middle of the "Tools" palette. Draw the first part of the tattoo on the transparent checkerboard work area, such as flowers, paw prints or abstract lines.

5. Change paint colors in the "Color Picker" as desired. Continue to add designs to the tattoo.

6. Add text to the tattoo by clicking the "T" icon. Choose a font, size and color for the type part of the tattoo from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Click the "Tattoo" box and type, such as someone's name, a remembrance date or favorite quote.

7. Click the "File" menu. Click "Save As." Pull down the "Format" menu and click "GIF," the only file format allowing a transparent -- not white -- background. Click the "Save" button.

Tips & Warnings

• The largest area for error in making tattoos in Photoshop is going to be real-life color matching. With a great deal of components in play -- how colors look on the screen, how printers handle color and whether printers have full ink capacity or are running low, whether colors correlate to tattoo gun ink colors -- you may wish to bring in your design for a consultation with the tattoo artist. They will be able to advise how to best transfer your desired Photoshop colors to actual ink colors. Another option is to use Photoshop PANTONE colors, available through the "Swatches" button on the "Color Picker." PANTONE colors, while referring more to house paint than skin paint, give a definitive shade for every color in the rainbow.

• Another way to experiment in Photoshop is to take a digital photo of yourself and scan it or load it into the computer. Open it in Photoshop ("File," "Open") and then do the tattoo artwork directly on yourself to see how you would look inked up before committing to the needle.

References

• University of Washington Information Technology: Photoshop Painting