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TattooGen BlogTattoo Guides & Advice
Every guide we have written, in one place — for the decisions around the tattoo itself, not just the design. Start with the question you are actually asking.
Planning your tattoo
First Tattoo Guide
Choosing a design, picking placement, finding an artist, and what to expect on the day. Start here before your first piece.
Tattoo Styles Explained
12 styles honestly compared — what each looks like, how it ages, and how to pick yours.
Tattoo Meanings Explained
What 12 popular symbols usually mean, why no meaning is fixed, and how to choose one that still matters in ten years.
Tattoo Lettering Guide
6 font styles honestly compared, the size rules that keep words readable, and the spelling checks to run before any word goes on skin.
Tattoo Placement Guide
12 placements honestly compared — what each spot suits, how visible it is, and how it ages.
Tattoo Size Guide
What common tattoo sizes actually look like, how size decides detail and price, and how to pick yours.
Tattoo Pain Chart
How placements really compare from least to most painful, and 8 ways to make any session easier. Honest, no hype.
How Much Does a Tattoo Cost?
Shop minimums, hourly vs flat rates, the 7 factors that move the price, and the red flags that mean a cheap tattoo is not a bargain.
How Long Does a Tattoo Take?
Rough session times by size, the 6 factors that stretch a session, and what multi-session work really looks like.
How to Choose a Tattoo Artist
Healed portfolios, hygiene checks, red flags, and the consultation questions that reveal a good artist.
How to Prepare for a Tattoo Appointment
The week before, the day of, what to bring, and the mistakes that make sessions harder. Prepare well, sit easy.
Tattoo Numbing Cream Guide
What numbing cream actually does, why some artists refuse it, the timing and skin rules that matter, and the alternatives that work without it.
Can I Get a Tattoo While Pregnant or Breastfeeding?
Why most reputable artists decline, what the risks actually are, when to book instead, and how to plan the design now.
Can I Get a Tattoo with Eczema, Psoriasis or Sensitive Skin?
Why artists are cautious, when to book, what changes by condition, and the mistakes that cause flare-ups.
Tattoos on Dark Skin: What Actually Works
Which colours and styles hold up, how to find an artist with healed work on darker skin, and the mistakes that cost contrast.
Can I Get a Tattoo While Taking Medication?
Which medicines change the answer, why artists ask, and the one rule that matters most: never stop a prescription for a tattoo.
How Old Do You Have to Be to Get a Tattoo?
Why there is no single global age, how parental consent actually works, why studios can be stricter than the law, and what to do while you wait.
Can You Tattoo Over Scars and Stretch Marks?
Which scars take ink well, which ones artists refuse, how long to wait, and the mistakes that ruin the result.
Can You Get a Tattoo If You Have Diabetes?
Why healing and infection risk change the conversation, what good control actually means for booking, and the rules doctors and artists agree on.
How Much Should You Tip a Tattoo Artist?
Why tipping customs vary by country, what changes the amount, and the rules that keep it simple — no guilt, no fixed percentage.
Getting a Tattoo on Holiday
Why a holiday is the worst healing environment, when holiday ink still works, and the rules that protect it — plus the mistakes that ruin it.
Best Time of Year to Get a Tattoo
Why winter and autumn heal easiest, why summer is hardest, and how to pick your timing around holidays, events and your own life.
White Ink Tattoos
What white ink really looks like healed, why it fades and yellows, who it suits, and when black ink is the better choice.
Can You Get a Tattoo When You Are Sick?
Why most artists say wait when you are ill, which illnesses matter most, and how to reschedule without losing your booking.
Tattoo Studio Etiquette Guide
The unwritten rules before, during and after a session — haggling, phones, bringing friends, tipping and touch-ups, honestly explained.
Tattoos and Work Guide
How workplace rules really treat tattoos, which placements stay safe in strict jobs, and how to plan ink around interviews, uniforms and promotions.
Should You Get a Tattoo Guide
The questions to answer before your first tattoo: whether you want it for the right reasons, how to test the idea, and the signs that waiting is the better choice.
After your tattoo
Tattoo Aftercare Guide
The first 24 hours, a day-by-day healing timeline, the washing routine, and normal healing vs warning signs.
Tattoo Healing Timeline Guide
What a tattoo looks like week by week, the warning signs that need a professional look, and the mistakes that slow healing down.
Can I Work Out After a Tattoo?
When to return to the gym, what sweat and friction really do to healing skin, and the workout rules that protect your ink.
Can You Drink Before or After a Tattoo?
Why artists say no before a session, what drinking does to healing afterwards, and how long to wait — honestly, no moralising.
How to Sleep with a New Tattoo?
How to protect a healing tattoo overnight, which position suits your placement, and the night-time mistakes that cost ink.
Can I Swim After a Tattoo?
Why soaking is different from showering, how pools, sea, lakes, baths and hot tubs compare, and when a healed tattoo is safe in the water.
Tattoo Sun Protection Guide
How UV fades ink, the no-sun rules while a tattoo heals, the everyday routine that keeps healed tattoos sharp, and the mistakes that cost colour.
Tattoo Aging Guide
What happens at 1, 5, 10 and 20 years, what makes tattoos fade, and when a touch-up is worth it.
Can I Donate Blood After a Tattoo?
Why blood services ask you to wait, how the waiting period varies, and how to plan a tattoo around donation.
Tattoo Touch-Ups Explained
When a touch-up is worth it, when to wait, what a session costs, and how to make the result last.
Can You Have an MRI With a Tattoo?
Why the screening form asks about ink, when warmth or image distortion actually happens, and what to tell the imaging team before your scan.
Changing or removing a tattoo
Tattoo Cover-Up Guide
What makes a cover-up work, when laser or a rework is better, and the questions to ask your artist.
Tattoo Removal Guide
How laser removal really works, how many sessions it takes, what it costs, and the options that are not worth your money.
Tools compared
Best AI Tattoo Generators Compared
An honest comparison of the leading AI tattoo tools, what each one does well, and where each one falls short.
Want to try a design instead of reading about one? The AI tattoo generator turns one sentence into a preview, and virtual try-on shows it on your own photo first.
Turn Ideas into Ink
Describe any tattoo in plain words and watch it become a design, then preview it on a real body and export a stencil for your artist.
Start Designing Free