One idea in · Designs or on-skin previews out · Free credits to start
AI Tattoo Generator
Describe the piece — a snake through lavender, a swallow, your grandmother's handwriting — and get flash-sheet designs or the ink rendered on skin. The expensive mistake this prevents is permanent.
The same arm, before and after the ink
A real in-place edit from our own run: we photographed a bare forearm on a table, then asked for a fine-line snake-and-lavender tattoo added — and nothing else touched. Drag the divider: the mug, the plant, the light and the arm hold still while the ink appears. Every output is AI-generated; your design and your arm will make a different pair.
Drag to compare before and after
What does an AI tattoo designer do?
It is a design tool for the months between wanting a tattoo and booking one: it turns a written idea into tattoo designs — flash-sheet style on paper, or rendered as ink on a photographed arm — so you can react to something concrete instead of describing a vibe to an artist from nothing.
Who actually searches this: people in the deliberation stage, which for tattoos famously lasts between three months and nine years. They are not looking for an artist yet — they are trying to find out what the idea in their head looks like outside it. Both examples on this page are our own runs. Upload the placement photo and the design lands as settled ink on it.
Check that the arm in the result is your own before you judge the design — reruns take seconds.
Creative engine
How a design run works
Describe the piece and the style, generate, and refine the sentence until the sheet looks like your idea.
Flash-sheet mode
Four designs on one page from a single brief: the format artists actually sketch options in, and the fastest way to find out which of your three ideas survives being drawn. Reacting to options beats describing one.
On-skin preview
The same design rendered as settled ink on a photographed arm, which is how you learn whether fine lines survive at forearm scale. Thin script that looks elegant on a screen frequently does not, and that is worth knowing early.
Design a tattoo in three decisions
Style words do most of the work — borrow the vocabulary tattoo artists use.
Name the subject and style
"Fine-line snake wrapped around lavender" — subject plus style is the minimum viable brief. "Fine line", "american traditional", "blackwork" and "single needle" all steer hard.
Choose paper or skin
Ask for a flash sheet when you are still choosing between ideas; upload an arm photo and ask for the ink added when you are testing one idea at real scale.
Vary one thing per rerun
Thinner lines. Smaller. More negative space. Changing one variable per run tells you what actually improved it — the same discipline a good artist applies.
Who runs tattoo ideas through it
Different stages of the same permanent decision.
The long deliberators
Years of "someday" turn into a folder of concrete designs. Watching your idea take shape across variations teaches you what you actually want, and once one lands, see it on your own arm before the appointment.
People booking a consult
Walking in with three generated directions beats walking in with adjectives. The artist redraws it properly — that is their craft — but the brief is now visual.
The matching-tattoo committee
Couples and friend groups arguing about a shared design finally have something to vote on. Generate the candidates, put them in the chat, count the reactions.
Ink preview FAQ
Asked before the needle, as it should be.
Yes — upload a clear photo of the placement area and ask for the design added as settled ink. Check that the arm in the result is your own, and rerun if it drifted — a rerun takes seconds, while a mis-scaled real tattoo takes a laser.
As a reference, yes — and most prefer it to a verbal description. Hand over the generated design as the direction, not a stencil: a working artist will redraw it for your anatomy, adjust line weights for how ink ages, and fix what the model does not know about skin. The generator replaces the awkward describing phase, not the artist.
Anything you can name: fine line, blackwork, american traditional, neo-traditional, dotwork, minimalist, script. Naming a style is the single highest-leverage word in the brief — leave it out and you get a generic middle ground no one would actually wear.
Design runs use credits and new accounts start with a free grant — enough to explore a concept properly before spending anything. The cost estimate is visible in the generator before each run.
Outputs are yours to use, including bringing them to a studio. One thing worth saying: if a design closely mimics a specific artist's published work, commissioning that artist is the right move rather than generating around them.
Uploaded over HTTPS for the run, stored in your history so you can revisit, never used to advertise. Delete it and it is gone. Every output is AI-generated.
Kavel pricing — you pay per generation, never per seat
Credits are shared across everything Kavel runs. You see the cost before each run, and a failed job is never charged.
Free
What's included
- 15 credits before you sign up
- +40 when you create an account
- +100 a week from daily check-ins
- = 488 a month — 97 images or 12 videos
- No card, no account
- Free engine every day
- Photo editing
Starter
What's included
- 3,150 credits per month
- Up to 630 images or 78 videos
- Every model unlocked
- Clean downloads, no watermark
- Cost shown before you generate
Creator
What's included
- 7,200 credits per month
- Up to 1,440 images or 180 videos
- No shared queue
- Every model unlocked
- Clean downloads, no watermark
Studio
What's included
- 13,200 credits per month
- Up to 2,640 images or 330 videos
- Built for 4K runs
- No shared queue
- Every model unlocked
Pay safely and securely with
Payments are processed by Stripe over an encrypted checkout. Your card details are handled by Stripe and are never stored by Kavel.
Other ways to redraw yourself
The body-and-look family this page belongs to.
Find out before the needle does
Describe the piece, watch it take shape, and walk into the consult with a visual direction your artist can work from.