Choose the type of butterfly you want to include in your tattoo. There are over 700 butterfly species native to the United States alone, according to Bug Info. While it may take a bit of time to choose which kind of butterfly you want to draw, choosing an actual butterfly gives you a source of inspiration. If you don't know which kind of butterfly you want to tattoo, choose one based on your location, a memory from the past or anything else relevant to the tattoo's meaning.
Copy the butterfly onto your tracing paper. If you used the Internet to find butterfly "specimens," then print a copy of the butterfly before tracing it.
Place the tracing paper butterfly on top of the area you want to tattoo, to see if it is appropriately sized. If you need to, increase or decrease the size of the butterfly using a copy machine.
Add any other elements to your tattoo design, using the same procedure as for the butterfly. Continue doing this until you add all of the visual elements you want in the tattoo. For example, if you want a butterfly resting on a branch, find a picture of the perfect branch and trace it much like you did the butterfly.
Color in parts of your tattoo using colored pencils, in order to give your tattoo artist a general idea of the colors you want.
Take your design to your tattoo artist. At this point, your qualified artist will look over the design and tell you what will and won't work on flesh. Many tattoo designs must be adjusted by the artist before she can tattoo you.