iPad app for tattoo artists
Create, draw and print your stencils in one app.
Turn a photo into a stencil, trace or draw your own with Apple Pencil, and print it at true scale, tiled across as many sheets as it needs. One app instead of three, four or five.
Free to download · First 3 exports free · No card
Made with the Artist tier · Photos: Pixabay
- artist-madeBuilt by one of your ownDesigned with tattoo artist Nicklas Wong Kold, for how artists actually work.
- one appCreate, draw, printNo more moving a stencil between apps to finish it.
- familiarControls you already knowApple Pencil, layers, pinch and two-finger undo, like the drawing apps you use every day.
- true scalePrints at the real sizeTiled across sheets with the overlap built in.
- low priceUnder $1 a weekThe Artist plan is $49.99 a year.
01 The problem
Stop moving your stencil from app to app in order to create, edit and print.
A single stencil can mean one app to make it, another to draw on it, another to fix the lines and another to print it at the right size. Every hand-off costs you time, and it's where sizes go wrong.
Tatscale does all of it in one place. It isn't here to replace your drawing app or the way you draw. It makes getting from idea to printed stencil convenient, with tools that already feel familiar, at a very low price.
02 Create
Turn any photo into a clean stencil.
AI Stencil is your starting point. Pick a photo, choose a style and say what's in the picture. You stay in control: what comes back lands on your canvas as layers you can change.
Three styles, one photo.
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Hyperrealism
Every strand drawn, with fine cross-hatching for shadow.
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Line
Bold outlines and flowing strands, with light stipple shading.
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Outline
Clean outlines only, with no shading.
More than line work.
This is the result screen in the app. Tap an option to see what you get with every render.
Colour
6 colours
6 greys
All of it goes to the canvas as layers.
- subject
Drawn for what's in the photo
Person, animal, object, lettering or flash. A likeness is kept strict, and lettering is traced as it is.
- palette
Colour palette
Your reference photo reduced to 5 to 30 flat colours, for colour work.
- references
Overlay and high contrast
The stencil over its photo, plus the photo in 6 grey values for black and grey work.
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CatHyperrealism
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OwlLine
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SnakeHyperrealism
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LynxHyperrealism
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HorseLine
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Torii gateLine
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EyeHyperrealism
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CatrinaLine
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EagleLine
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PuppyOutline
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LetteringHyperrealism
Made with the Artist tier · Photos: Pixabay
03 Draw
Draw on it. Trace it. Make it yours.
Real drawing tools, right where your stencil already is. Import a sketch or a photo and trace it on the layer above, draw from scratch, or fix a line without leaving the app.
- trace
Trace over anything
A drawing layer sits above your import, ready for Apple Pencil.
- brushes
Seven brushes
Technical pen, fine liner, pencil, fountain pen, marker, crayon and watercolour.
- eraser
Eraser
Take out anything you don't want, from fine detail to whole areas.
- layers
Layers
Each part of a design on its own layer. Hide, lock, group or reorder them.
- line weight
Line weight
Thinner, bolder or less detail, for the whole stencil or just the part you select.
- colour
Colour
Pick your stencil colour, and any colour to draw with.
04 Print
Then print it at true scale.
Files app
- PNG
- JPEG
- PDFpage 1
Photo Library
- any image
- Import again to add another layer.
- Nothing is uploaded. Files stay on the iPad.
- Print AirPrint, with the paper set to the size you picked.
- Save PDF One file, one tile per page. Share it or print it anywhere.
- Save PNG One image per sheet.
05 Features
Everything else you need.
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on-device
Your art stays yours
Your canvases stay on your iPad. A photo only leaves it when you send it to AI Stencil.
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0–8 cm
Overlap you control
Type a value or drag a seam. Mark it with a line or registration marks, in the colour you want.
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P1 → Pn
Automatic tiling
Pieces bigger than a sheet split across as many pages as they need, previewed right on the canvas.
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cm · in
Real-unit canvas
Type the width and height, or start from a paper preset. The rulers read in the same units.
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pinch
Size with your fingers
Pinch to resize the design while the canvas stays at true scale, so what you see is the printed size.
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PDF · PNG
Three ways out
Export a tiled PDF, save each tile to Photos as a PNG, or send it to an AirPrint printer.
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guides
Guides and grid
Drag guides off the rulers. Set the grid spacing and put it behind or in front of the artwork.
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layers
More than one design
Imports stack as layers you can select, move, resize and rotate in 90° steps.
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2 · 3 taps
Undo with a tap
Two-finger tap to undo, three-finger tap to redo. Canvas resizes are undoable too.
06 Pricing
One low price instead of a stack of apps.
Free to download. Prices are US and vary by country. Billed by Apple, and you can cancel anytime in Settings.
Artist
$49.99 / year
or $14.99 / month
- 30 AI renders every month
- All three stencil styles
- Brushes, eraser, layers, line weight and colour
- Everything in Pro
Pro
$9.99 / year
or $2.99 / month
- Unlimited prints
- Unlimited PDF exports
- Unlimited saves to Photos
- Everything in Free
Basic
Free
No card
- First 3 exports free
- True-scale canvas and tiling
- Import, size and arrange your designs
Will this replace my drawing app?
It doesn't have to. Tatscale isn't trying to replace the tools you love drawing in. It gives you enough to draw, trace and fix a stencil in one place, so you don't need three, four or five apps to get one printed.
Do you store my designs?
Your canvases and designs stay on your iPad. The one exception is AI Stencil: the photo you choose is sent to a third-party AI service to draw the stencil, and the app asks your permission before your first one.
For your account we store your email, your name if you give one, an account ID and how many exports you've used. Privacy policy.
How much does it cost?
Tatscale is free to download and your first 3 exports are free on the Basic plan, with no card and no trial timer. Each PDF export, print or save to Photos counts as one.
Tatscale Pro gives you unlimited exports and printing for $2.99/month or $9.99/year.
Tatscale Artist is $14.99/month or $49.99/year. It includes everything in Pro, 30 AI renders every month, and the drawing tools.
Prices are US; they vary by country. Subscriptions are billed by Apple and you can cancel anytime in Settings.
Which iPads does it run on?
Any iPad running iPadOS 16 or later, in portrait or landscape. Tatscale is iPad-only; there's no iPhone or Mac version.
The Artist tier needs an iPad with an A12 chip or newer.
What files can I import?
PNG, JPEG and PDF from the Files app, or any image from your Photo Library. For a PDF, Tatscale imports the first page.
Which printers and paper sizes work?
Printing goes through AirPrint, so any printer your iPad can already print to will work. Tatscale asks the printer for the sheet size you picked.
Sheet sizes: A0–A6, US Letter, Legal, Tabloid and Executive, each in portrait or landscape.
Stencil printer doesn't do AirPrint? Export the tiled PDF or the PNG tiles and print them from whatever drives that printer. Either way, print at 100% / actual size.
Does it work offline?
Yes, once you're signed in. Importing, sizing, tiling and exporting all happen on the iPad. AirPrint needs the printer on the same local network, not the internet.
You need a connection to sign in, subscribe, restore a purchase or render an AI Stencil.
Do I need an account?
You can explore the whole app as a guest. To export, print or subscribe to Artist, sign in with Apple or with a one-time code sent to your email. You can delete your account from inside the app at any time.
Who are we?
We are Henrik Arnrød and Nicklas Wong Kold.
Nicklas is the artist (@tattoosbynicklaswong) and specialises in Neo Traditional, Neo Japanese and New School. He is both known and well liked in the industry and has worked all over the world. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia.
Henrik and Nicklas grew up together in Denmark, and Henrik is the technical part of the app. With our combined love for art and tattoos, technical know-how and knowledge of the industry, our mission is to help artists around the world create more and be frustrated less.