Choosing a tattoo design is a major step and shouldn’t be rushed. You can find some great designs in your local tattoo parlour, but often many people will have these tattoos as well, so if you want something more unique or unusual, try looking at the online tattoo design galleries. Many of the best sites offer printable tattoo designs that you can print out and take to your tattoo artist.
Free Online Tattoo Design Galleries
A quick Google search will reveal lots of tattoo-related sites, and many of these include galleries of tattoo designs and photos. These sites can be good for finding ideas, but often the quality of the tattoo designs (and sometimes of the sites themselves) is not always very high. It can also be hard to view the details of the designs, since they’re often displayed at low resolution – and these don’t print very well either. With free tattoo design sites of this type, you do get what you pay for, and with something as permanent as a tattoo, you should be looking at the best designs available – and sad to say, but they aren’t usually available on the free sites. Another problem is that the free designs are everywhere, and are anything but unique. So if you want a unique or more exclusive tattoo design, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
To be fair though, although free tattoo design sites have their drawbacks, they can give you a good starting point and are great for gathering ideas and inspiration if you’re not yet sure about what type of tattoo design you want. Just bear in mind that you probably won’t find the really top quality designs here.
Tattoo Membership Sites
Many people turn to tattoo membership sites in their quest for the best printable tattoo designs. There is a choice of tattoo membership sites online that provide offer a large variety of top quality printable tattoo designs. With these sites, you usually pay a small one-off membership fee, which gives you access to the site, and you can then take full advantage of the designs that are available (and often other services such as forums, member galleries etc).
But why would you pay to join a tattoo membership site when there’s such a glut of free galleries online? There are several reasons why these membership sites are so popular.
- They provide printable tattoo designs, not just photos of the tattoo on someone’s skin – this is obviously essential if you want to use the design yourself
- They hire the best artists to provide top quality, professional designs, whereas the free stuff may often be of poorer quality
- They’re usually well organised, and you can search for tattoo designs by type, size, colour etc, so you can easily find what you’re looking for
- You’re more likely to find a design that few, if any, other people are using – unlike free designs which are more accessible and thus likely to be more widely used
- Most membership sites are updated regularly, and after paying the one-time joining fee, you’ll always have access to the new material
- It’s very convenient to be able to browse designs from the comfort of your home, and then printing it off to take to the tattoo studio – especially as it can be hard to find what you’re looking for in shop catalogs (and they’re likely to be commonly used)
- Some tattoo membership sites offer appealing ‘extras’ as well as tattoo designs. These include things like forums and other community features, member photo galleries, videos and other tattoo-related features
- Some sites, such as Tattoo Me Now, are a kind of ‘one-stop shop’ for many tattoo-related resources, which is very convenient for members
- Most sites give you the ability to enlarge the designs for close-up viewing. This is very useful if you want to test your tattoo at home by printing it onto tattoo paper first
- Although membership sites do have a joining fee, this is usually relatively low – most sites charge under $40 for lifetime membership, and in many cases you can pay a lower rate for shorter-term access to the site, so you can see if you like it or not. This is a small price to pay for the convenience of browsing through thousands of excellent professional designs, not to mention the additional features and services that some offer. Such sites are also especially good value for those who like to get multiple tattoos, or who are interested in the tattoo lifestyle
Tattoo Membership Sites – What To Look For
- A good site will only charge a one-off joining fee, and not a monthly bill. Some of the sites, such as Tattoo Me Now, offer a tiered charging structure, where you can join up for a shorter period (such as a year) for less money, so you can see if you like the site first before getting lifetime membership.
- The site’s database of designs should be updated regularly
- Some tattoo sites also offer extra services such as a community forum etc – these aren’t standard features, but they help to provide a better experience for the user
- The site should clearly specify the design categories that are available
- You should be able to view the designs at high resolution and in large sizes – this is essential if you want to print a design off to take to your tattoo artist
- They should offer a money back guarantee, so you can get a refund within a set period (usually 60 days), if you’re not happy with the site
Printable Tattoo Designs Sites
Tattoo Me Now
Tattoo Me Now has over 3,500 professional designs are available across 40 categories, and the portfolio is growing all the time. Tattoo Me Now also has a vibrant tattoo community, with a member’s gallery, discussion forum, videos and more. There is just a small joining fee, and of course you can get a refund within 60 days if you’re not happy with the site for any reason.
The following sites also have a wide range of designs, and offer a money-back guarantee on their joining fee.
Chopper Tattoo
This is the web’s most popular tattoo design site, with lots of top quality artwork.
Infinite Tattoos
This huge site has over 15,000 designs to choose from!
Tattoo My Brain
You’ll find over 6,000 quality tattoo designs here, although it’s not the easiest site to navigate.
Target Tattoo
Over 10,000 great designs.
These are all good places to find professionally produced printable tattoo designs, so are worth a look if you want the best tattoo possible.
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