Considering the permanence of tattoos and the potential for regret, it's wise to think twice before committing to a design.

Luckily, Photoshop is more than capable of saving you from possible remorse. If you're looking to get a tattoo, you can use Photoshop—rather than the mirror in the parlor—to preview a tattoo on yourself.

Of course, like any other task, there are many techniques for adding tattoos to someone in Photoshop. The simplest method is to stick the tattoo, resize it, and then make it look real. Let's get started.

1. Prepare the Tattoo Image

The first step is to prepare the tattoo image. Since you only need to transfer the ink to the skin, the white background is superfluous.

If your tattoo image already has a transparent background, then you're good to skip this step. Otherwise, here's how you can remove the image background:

  1. Open your tattoo image in Photoshop.
  2. Go to the Select menu.
  3. Click on Color Range.
    Select menu in Photoshop
  4. Set up the selection until the tattoo is entirely selected. You can check the preview to be sure.
  5. Once you're satisfied with the selection, click OK.
    Color Range selection in Photoshop

Now the ink on the tattoo is selected. All that's left is to remove the background:

  1. Invert the selection by pressing Ctrl + Shift + I on your keyboard. That's Shift + Cmd + I on Mac.
  2. Press Del on your keyboard to delete the white background.
    Removing background in Photoshop

The ink is now ready. If you're looking for some realism, you can give the ink an ocean-green color. You can do this by adding a color overlay:

  1. Double-click the tattoo layer.
  2. Go to Color Overlay.
  3. Click on the colored rectangle and input the color you desire. We went with #004242.
  4. Click OK.
    Color Overlay in Photoshop

Your tattoo image is all set to go. It's best to crop the image down to its main content so that it's easier to work with later on. Export your image as a PNG file and let's move on to the next step.

2. Place and Fit the Tattoo

With your tattoo image ready at hand, you can now place it wherever you want with zero hassle. Once you add the tattoo, all that is left is to resize and fit the tattoo.

  1. Open your photo in Photoshop.
  2. Drag and drop the tattoo image onto your photo.
  3. Press Ctrl + T on your keyboard to enter Free Transform. That's Cmd + T on Mac.
    Transforming a layer in Photoshop

You can freely move and resize the tattoo image now. Once the position and dimensions are adequate, warp the tattoo image until it's a perfect fit:

  1. Select the tattoo layer.
  2. Go to the Edit menu and click Transform.
  3. Select Warp.
  4. Warp the tattoo until it fits.
    Warping a layer in Photoshop

If warp alone doesn't do the trick, you can use other transformation tools such as Perspective to make it work.

Don't worry about the tattoo image overlapping clothes or hair. Once you've fitted the tattoo where you want, select the Eraser tool and clean up the overlapping bits.

  1. Select the tattoo layer.
  2. Select the Eraser tool by pressing E on your keyboard.
  3. Set the hardness of the brush to 90%.
  4. Zoom into the photo and decrease the Eraser brush size.
  5. Clean up the overlapping bits.
    Cleaning up the tattoo in Photoshop

The more effort you put into this part, the better your results are going to be. If the tattoo didn't overlap anything to begin with, then you can skip this.

3. Finishing Touches

You've fitted the tattoo, but it looks more like a sticker than a tattoo. To make it look real, you need to blend it with the skin. A simple trick to achieve this is altering the layer's blend mode and opacity in Photoshop:

  1. Select the tattoo layer.
  2. Change the Blend Mode to Multiply.
  3. Decrease Opacity as you see fit. 50% should be good enough.
    Changing Blend Mode in Photoshop

Tattoos aren't as sharp and clear in real life. The ink tends to diffuse under the skin, turning the tattoo art a bit blurry. You can simulate this with Gaussian Blur in Photoshop to make your tattoo look real. Here's how:

  1. Select the tattoo layer.
  2. Go to the Filter layer and select Blur.
  3. Click on Gaussian Blur.
  4. Lower the blur radius to somewhere around 0.5 px. Just a little bit of blur will suffice.
  5. Click OK.
    Gaussian Blur in Photoshop

That's it! Your tattoo should be looking good now. Try sending the results to your friends and see if they freak out over your new tattoo.

A Tattoo Without the Commitment

As aesthetic tattoos are, none can deny that they're also painful and long-lasting. With some basic Photoshop knowledge, you can easily add tattoos to anyone and skip the pain and commitment.

You just got the Photoshop knowledge through this article, so now all that is left is for you to explore the creative possibilities of Photoshop and let your imagination run wild. Go ahead and give crazy tattoos to yourself and your friends!

Just remember that adding tattoos isn't all that you can do with Photoshop. There's much more where that came from.