How to size a tattoo stencil at 1:1

A stencil is only useful at the exact size you tattoo. Here is how to lock the real size and keep your linework safe.

1:1 means the paper matches the skin

A stencil printed even slightly off-scale shifts every measurement with it - lines get thinner, gaps get tighter, and the safe design you checked on screen is no longer the one on the stencil. Printing at a true 1:1 real size keeps what you measured and what you tattoo the same thing.

Set the size first, then check the geometry

Decide the width the piece will be tattooed at before anything else, because every threshold depends on it. The same artwork at 45 mm and at 90 mm are two different jobs for the skin. Once the size is set, the thinnest line and tightest gap are fixed numbers you can verify.

Export a checked stencil

inkPreflight measures at your chosen size and exports a 1:1 real-size stencil (plus a mirrored version), so the sheet you print is the same design you verified - not a rescaled surprise.