Tattoo stencil from an image

A stencil is not an illustration, it is an instruction. It has to stay readable on skin even when the line spreads a little during transfer. Everything grey in the source causes confusion later, so it either goes fully black or fully away.

That is what the three tonal sliders aim at. You decide from which tone on a line belongs to the template and see immediately how the shape looks without midtones. The lasso removes paper edges, hands or table borders from the photo.

Suitable source material

• Clean drawings made with fineliner or ink
• Photos shot head on, without perspective distortion
• Motifs with a clear split between line and area
• Sources whose thinnest line still carries once printed

The route is the same for every source. Only the slider values differ.

1. Load the image and start in the result viewDrag your PNG, JPG or WEBP into the drop area. The result view shows right away what the source turns into.
2. Split black from whiteSet black level, contrast and brightness until every line you want is there and the rest disappears.
3. Remove leftovers with the lassoCircle whatever has to go. Hold Alt and the lasso flips around, so only the selection stays.
4. Check the contour in the vector viewInspect counters, gaps and the thinnest parts. Outlines shows the same shape as a bare line.
5. Smooth and simplify with restraintRaise both shape sliders in small steps until the pixel staircase is gone and the shape still holds.
6. Export the format you needDownload the result as PDF, SVG, EPS, DXF or a cleaned PNG. The download starts immediately.

For the thermal printer, PDF is the direct route because the size sits in the file. The cleaned PNG fits when the template gets mirrored or scaled in an image editor first. SVG is what you need when the lines still have to move.