Of course, the Internet is chock full of ideas and pictures that you can look through when trying to figure out what you want as your tattoo design. According to easytattoofinder.com, there are Internet companies, or "tattoo finders," that will do the searching for you. In an article dated November 6, 2009, by Ben Swank for easytattoofinder.com, he writes that a tattoo finder can help you search through a large amount of designs at one time. At a tattoo parlor, you are limited to leafing through the work of the few artists who work for that particular shop. With a tattoo finder, you can see many styles from many different artists.
Swank suggests using either Chopper Tattoo or Tattoo Me Now as your Internet tattoo finder. Chopper Tattoo has 4,000 downloadable designs to choose from. You can browse designs by category and download as many as you like. Popular categories such as tribal and Chinese tattoos have hundreds of designs whereas less popular categories such as fairies have roughly 30. The Tattoo Me Now website is still a work in progress with roughly 3,500 designs. Their fantasy tattoo category has roughly 25 designs, but the more popular tribal tattoos have 1,600 pictures.
If you decide to go with a tattoo finder, find one that works within your budget. Remember, you are going to pay for this service along with actually getting your tattoo. Chopper Tattoo gives a 30-day access for $19.95 and a 60-day access for $24.95. A lifetime membership costs $35. With Tattoo Me Now, a year membership costs $27 and lifetime access costs $37. Once you have registered and paid your membership fee, log in and select the theme you want. After you have given your design some thought (and please, sleep on it for a couple days) just print it out and bring it to your tattoo artist. Many websites offer an option where you can use transfer paper to temporarily put the design on your body for a few days.
There are companies that sell CDs full of tattoo ideas, and using them is like doing a search on the Internet for tattoos. The CD may contain thousands of designs with categories such as Celtic, tribal, cartoons, demons and hearts. Many tattoo CDs include software that allows you to print any size and will also let you create and edit your own. These CDs cost around $5 as of 2009.
Then there are those sites that are dedicated to letting you do the work yourself. According to tattoodesign.com, you can tell them your idea and size and where you want to put your tattoo and you will receive creative input and receive a custom tattoo. When you register online with your email, you will receive a concept sketch based upon your design along with advice. You will then get two revisions of your design and a final version with line art and inked files you can take to your tattoo artist.