3D tattoo try on, see it on your body
Load a photo of your own arm or leg, drop a design onto it, then scale, rotate and fade the 3D tattoo preview until it sits where you would really get it.
Drag the design to move it. Use the sliders to size and turn it.
Your photo stays on your device. Nothing here is uploaded.
What this answers is size and position on your body instead of somebody else's. A 10 cm piece looks one way on a 28 cm forearm and another way on a 34 cm one, and no photo of a stranger's arm tells you which of those you have. Load your own photo and that question gets easy.
The photo stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded, no account is needed and the tool is free. A flat overlay cannot bend with your arm, which is the part a real design has to do, so treat the result as the first check, with a true scale print and the artist's drawing on your skin still to come.
Taking a photo the overlay can use
Flexing is the most common mistake and the hardest to spot in the result. A design sized against a flexed arm comes out slightly small and loose when the arm is down, which is how the arm spends most of its time.
Five things that decide whether it works
- Shoot in daylight near a window or in open shade. Flash flattens the limb and kills the soft shadow that shows its shape.
- Hold the limb straight on to the lens with the phone parallel to it, about 50 cm away. Close up wide angle lenses stretch whichever end is nearer.
- Stay relaxed. A flexed bicep is a different shape from a resting one, and the design has to work in both.
- Use a plain background and get the whole area in frame with a little room around it.
- If the area is hairy, shave it or expect the preview to look fuzzier than the finished tattoo would.
What a 3d tattoo preview can show you, and what it cannot
An overlay on a square on photo is reliable about two things: how much of the area the design covers, and whether the position looks right next to the rest of your body. It is unreliable about anything that depends on depth. Skin curves in two directions at once, a forearm tapers from about 28 cm around at the elbow to 17 cm at the wrist, and a piece drawn flat loses its edges as the limb turns away.
| Question | What the overlay tells you | What still has to happen |
|---|---|---|
| Is the size right? | A good first answer if the photo is square on | Print at true scale and tape it on for a day |
| Is it in the right spot? | Reliable | Wear the paper version through a normal day |
| Will it wrap around my arm? | Nothing useful | The artist draws on your skin with a marker |
| Will it look like this healed? | No, the opacity is a slider | Ask to see the artist's healed work, not fresh photos |
| Does it sit well with my other tattoos? | Roughly, if they are in the photo | A consultation with the artist who will place it |
Why a flat design and a curved body are different problems
An artist does not drop a flat image onto a limb. They draw the piece for that limb, in the position it will usually be seen, and they move the centre line so the composition reads from the angle people look at you from. A straight line across a bicep bends when the arm bends. A circle on a shoulder cap reads as an oval from the front.
This is also why the same design takes different hours on different placements, and why an artist will sometimes ask to change a design for the spot you picked. The overlay helps you arrive with a realistic size and a clear preference. The drawing on your skin at the appointment is what sets the final shape.
The paper test, which is the one that settles it
Print the design at true scale, cut it out, and tape it on with micropore tape or a plaster. Wear it through a working day. Look at it in a mirror, in photos other people take, and in the moments you forget it is there. Most people who do this change either the size or the spot, usually upward by a couple of centimeters.
After that the order is simple. Settle the design, print the stencil, book the consultation, and let the artist adapt it to your body. If the design itself is still open, describe what you want in the generator and it comes back with four versions plus a print ready stencil, free with an account.
Questions people ask
Is there an app that shows a tattoo on body before you get it?
Plenty, and they all do the same thing: place a flat image over a photo and let you scale and rotate it. That answers size and position honestly. None of them show how a design will wrap around a limb or how it will look healed, which is why the paper test still earns its place.
How accurate is a tattoo simulator?
Accurate about proportion if your photo is square on and evenly lit. Unreliable about anything curved, and silent on how ink settles into skin. Use it the way you would use a mirror in a shop, for ruling options out rather than for guaranteeing the fit.
Can I see a 3d tattoo on my own photo?
Two different things get searched that way. If you mean a design with a 3d effect, like a tear in the skin or a raised geometric shape, that is a style and the generator will draw one. If you mean a design wrapped onto your body in three dimensions, no browser tool does that properly, and a flat overlay is as close as it gets.
Can I use a model for a tattoo instead of my own photo?
Yes, and the templates help with proportion while you are still choosing a placement. They stop helping once you have a shortlist, because a template arm is an average and yours is not. Switch to your own photo before you commit to a size.
Does my photo get uploaded anywhere?
No. The image is processed in your browser and never leaves your device. Nothing is stored on a server, no account is needed, and closing the tab is enough to clear it. The same is true of the design you drop on top of it.