Placement chart

Where it goes matters as much as what it is.

Most placement regret comes from skipping one of three questions: will the design fit the spot, who will see it, and how will that skin age. Here is every common placement on all three, plus pain, with a page per spot.

Pain tiers come from our pain chart. Fade and visibility come from the placement guide.

Bars show the tier, not a measured score. Your skin, artist and habits move it.

Lower pain

Most people sit these without much trouble.

Medium pain

Uncomfortable but manageable.

High pain

Bring strategy.

Extreme pain

Short, simple, or skip.

The spots you can’t really mess up

Outer forearm, outer upper arm, calf, outer thigh and upper back. They are low pain, age well, hide easily and hold any style. Everything else is a tradeoff, and you should pick those spots because the design demands them, not because they looked good in someone else’s photo.

For a first piece, pick somewhere you can hide. You can go more visible on tattoo number two, once you know how it feels to wear one.

Tool

Tattoo aging simulator

The same three wear tiers, applied to a design from healed to 20 years.

Guide

The full placement guide

Small, medium and large placements in long form.