Convert Any Image Into a Clean Tattoo Stencil
Turn a photo into a single-colour line drawing, set the true print width, and download a 300 DPI stencil PDF mirrored for transfer. Free style previews run in your browser.
Start with a photo
No photo handy? Try one of ours:
Compare styles
Four style previews will appear here.
Free style previews are drawn in your browser. AI line art sends the photo to our server only when you press the button; the first preview is watermarked.
Preview position and size
The placement preview appears after you choose a photo.
Where will it go?
20 line-art designs
One-time · full-size PNG + stencil PDF
50 designs
One-time · designs never expire
100 a month
Monthly · cancel any time
Prices match the pricing page; refund policy applies. One watermarked AI preview is included before you pay. The free style previews and placement preview run in your browser.
From photo to printable stencil
- Upload the reference. A photo, a drawing or a screenshot; one clear subject.
- Check the line-art preview. The browser preview shows the contour. Switch styles if the linework is too busy.
- Choose the print width. Width in centimetres is the real size the artist will work with.
- Set the placement and mirror. The PDF is mirrored for transfer; text is checked so it reads correctly after transfer.
- Print at 100% and measure. A ruler is the only reliable check that the stencil is the size you asked for.
How to print a stencil that fits
Open the PDF in a desktop PDF reader, choose Print at 100% (sometimes called “actual size”), and turn off “fit to page” and “shrink oversized pages”. A 10 cm stencil printed at 96% is 9.6 cm — close enough to look right on screen and wrong on skin.
Measure the printed width with a ruler before you transfer it. If the width is off, the printer scaled the page; fix that before you touch the skin. For a quick calibration, print our tattoo size chart and measure the marked line.
Line weight, detail and size
A stencil can carry more detail than a tattoo can hold. At small sizes, closely spaced lines merge as the ink spreads; at larger sizes the same lines can look thin and unfinished. A practical rule: measure the narrowest gap in the design at final size and compare it with the line width beside it. If the gap is less than the line width, simplify.
Fine-line work is not only a thinner line — it is a different relationship between line, gap and healing. On darker skin, thin light lines can disappear; stronger outlines and clear negative space read better. Those are decisions for the artist, but the stencil should not pretend they do not exist.
What to check before you hand it over
- Print width matches the centimetres you chose.
- The image is mirrored, and any text reads correctly after transfer.
- No grey background box or photo texture survived the line extraction.
- Small details are not already merged at the final size.
- The placement is marked, and the client has seen it in a mirror.
For the full list we use, read seven checks before a tattoo artist appointment.
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Each page does one job. Start where your photo is.