Type a name, date or phrase and see it in nine tattoo lettering styles — script, blackletter, roman capitals and western. Then turn the one you like into a finished design.
Script — The classic tattoo script. Flowing, readable, ages well at medium size.
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Formal script — Copperplate feel. Elegant, but the thin strokes need size to survive.
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Casual script — Monoline and even-weighted, so it holds up better than most scripts over time.
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Blackletter — Traditional gothic. Heavy strokes age extremely well.
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Blackletter — Cleaner, more modern gothic. Easier to read than most blackletter.
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High-contrast faces — very thick and very thin strokes in the same letter — look best on screen and worst after a decade. The hairlines are the first thing to blur. Sacramento and UnifrakturMaguntia hold up; Tangerine and Pinyon need real size to survive.
The single most common lettering regret is going too small. Ink spreads under the skin over years and closes fine gaps. Whatever size looks right on the stencil, most artists will tell you to go one step bigger.
A short phrase with generous letter spacing reads for life. A full sentence at wrist size becomes an unreadable smudge. If the text matters, give it room.
A long horizontal script suits a forearm or collarbone. Roman capitals stack well down a spine. Blackletter needs width, so it wants a chest, back or outer arm.
Nothing here is a stencil. A good artist takes the font as a reference and redraws the letterforms to fit the curve of your body and the way the skin moves. That is the part worth paying for.
The one that still reads in ten years. Script faces like Great Vibes and Sacramento are the most popular, but monoline scripts with even stroke weight age better than high-contrast ones like Tangerine, whose hairlines blur. For anything small, choose an even-weighted face and size it up.
All ink spreads slightly under the skin over years. Fine detail closes up first, so very thin strokes and tight letter spacing suffer most. Rules of thumb: keep strokes at least 1mm, leave generous space between letters, and go a size larger than feels necessary.
Yes. All nine are open-source faces licensed for personal and commercial use, and a tattoo is a personal use in any case. Copy the font name, send it to your artist, and they will redraw it by hand — which is what you want, because a good artist adapts the letterforms to the curve of your body.
For names, a script like Great Vibes or Alex Brush. For a single strong word, blackletter such as UnifrakturMaguntia or roman capitals such as Cinzel carry more weight. Cinzel is also the best choice for roman numeral dates.
It depends on placement. A forearm or collarbone suits a gentle curve following the body line; a spine or rib piece usually runs straight. Bring your artist the text and the placement and let them set the curve — that is the part software cannot judge.
Most lettering pieces hit the shop minimum of $80 to $150, or run $150 to $400 for a longer phrase. Script takes longer than block text because the strokes need to be smooth and consistent. Estimate yours on the tattoo cost calculator.
Working out placement? See the tattoo pain chart and the cost calculator.