Typical widths by placement
- Finger: 1–2 cm
- Behind the ear: 2–4 cm
- Inner wrist: 3–6 cm
- Ankle: 3–7 cm
- Collarbone: 6–12 cm
- Forearm: 6–14 cm
- Upper arm: 10–18 cm
- Calf: 10–18 cm
- Thigh: 12–25 cm
- Spine: 15–40 cm tall
- Back piece: 30 cm and up
Detail needs space
Lines spread slightly as a tattoo heals. As a rule of thumb, keep gaps between lines around 1 mm or more and lowercase letters at least about 5 mm tall. If a design has lots of detail, go bigger or simplify it.
Check it on your own body
Upload a photo of the placement, mark a known length (like a ruler or a credit card) to calibrate, and set the width in cm. The preview, the stencil and the PDF all use the same number.