Whether you’re in the market for a new tattoo or looking for some cool tattoo fonts you can incorporate into your next design, the process of selecting a font can be time-consuming and a little challenging. There are many aspects to consider when choosing a font: mood, brand, project type, content, font size, and font weight, just to name a few. If you are choosing a font for a real tattoo, we don’t have to tell you how critical it is to choose wisely and to take your time considering the options. Nothing is more permanent than getting inked. It’s only going to live on your body for the rest of your life, after all. No biggie.
Okay, so that is a pretty high pressure situation. This isn’t just for the ‘gram although you really should show it off there later. Luckily, we’ve curated some of the best tattoo fonts you can incorporate into Picsart to make your font selection process a piece of cake. From cool to traditional to Celtic to cute and gothic, we’ll go over all the different tattoo font styles for any possible design project. But first, let’s take a look at the basics of tattoo lettering.
What Is a Lettering Tattoo?
A lettering tattoo means exactly what it sounds like. It is a tattoo design that uses uppercase or lowercase letters and numbers. Lettering tattoos are a hugely popular choice when it comes to tattoo designs. Whether it’s a name, date, or a sentimental word (or phrase), lettering tattoos allow you to display your message in a bold, direct way. When done properly, they can be beautiful in design and message. So, what exactly should you consider when getting a lettering tattoo?
Spelling and Grammar
Correct spelling and grammar are arguably the most essential things to ensure when getting inked. When it comes to getting a permanent lettering tattoo, there is nothing worse than a misspelling or incorrect grammar. Make sure to check, double-check, triple-check, and have another set of eyes take a look before you permanently tattoo a mistake and it’s too late.
Message
The contents of your tattoo are also crucial. In most cases, you want others to see your design and understand what they are looking at. Whether it’s the name of a loved one or a famous quote, you should make a conscious, well-thought-out decision about what exactly you’re inking on your body. If you choose to get a lettering tattoo in another language, be sure to confirm the content and spelling from native speakers of that language. Don’t just rely on Google. You never know how much context and nuance might matter. You can even include glyphs or numerals, if you fancy something a little more esoteric in tone. But again, always be sure to check the meaning matches your intentions.
Tattoo Fonts
Choosing the best tattoo font is a critical decision in the tattoo design process. It’s also the fun part where you get to personalize your tattoo in your own way. When choosing a font, consider what the message says, how long it is, and what mood you want to elicit with your lettering tattoo. Just because you like how a font looks, doesn’t mean your message will look good in that font. Picking the wrong font can throw the whole vibe off. You might think you’ve nailed it with a handwriting font, for instance, but once that’s applied to skin it might not flow exactly as it does on paper or on screen. It’s also important to discuss the font with your tattoo artist, to ensure the font and the ink will work well together. One final point to remember: if you’re working on a tattoo project for commercial use, make sure you’re using a free font or you’ve paid the fee involved. If it’s for personal use, check the terms of your chosen font.
Size
After selecting the best tattoo font for you, it’s important to consider the size of the letters. You’ll want to scale the size depending on what the message says, how it looks with the font you chose, and where you will be placing the tattoo on your body. A lettering tattoo too big or too small can affect legibility and take away from the design. This is another important step to discuss with your tattoo artist. Everything might look perfect on paper, but as many people learn the hard way, the reality is that tattooing on skin involves a lot of variables and can have a different outcome than what you were expecting.
Now that you’ve learned the most important aspects of lettering tattoos, it will make the overall design process easier. When it comes down to your tattoo or design project, you have a certain vision in mind and might need guidance to accomplish that vision. Here are a few things to put on your checklist, to help you choose the right lettering font tattoo:
- Typeface or typography style (serif fonts, sans serifs, script fonts, etc)
- Font weight (boldness)
- Font size
- Other font effects (outline, shadow, solid, shading)
- Font color
- Kerning (the spacing between each letter)
- Body placement
- Any visual add-ons
The Best Tattoo Fonts
You’ve learned a lot about lettering tattoos and the important components to making sure your final tattoo design is perfect. Now, let’s take a look at this amazing collection of tattoo fonts curated by category.
Cool Tattoo Fonts
These fonts are epic and classy in design. If you’re looking for something outside of the normal, traditional tattoo fonts, check out some of these cool tattoo fonts you can use. These stunning fonts are simplistic, clean, and contemporary – perfect for long or short quotes.
- Bebas Neue Thin
- Hope Sans Thin Italic
- New Garden Light
- Stela UT
- Avellino
- Beyond Sky
- Rose Tattoo
- Ginga
- Cutive Mono
- Barclay Outline
Traditional Tattoo Fonts
These fonts are widely popular for lettering tattoos. They are cursive and calligraphy style script fonts that read fluidly and elegantly. Some of our favorite traditional tattoo fonts are Angilla Tattoo, Wedding Text Std, and Bernhardt Standard Std. We suggest using such fonts for short text, such as name or date. Otherwise, it may be difficult to read in longer text.
- Old English Std
- Bernhardt Standard Std
- Lucida Blackletter
- Edwardian Script
- Wedding Text Std
- Old Fashion Script Std
- Sverige Script Decorated
- Pennybridge 1563
- Coneria Script Medium
- Angilla Tattoo
Cute Tattoo Fonts
If you’re looking for more delicate and feminine tattoo fonts, take a look at this collection. These fonts generally have a softer look with cute characteristics. Some of our favorite cute tattoo fonts are Good Pro, Dove Love, and Dawning of a New Day.
- French Script
- Good Pro
- Lettering Delight
- Glastonbury Std
- Ringer Light
- Dove Love
- Perfograma
- Acryle Script
- Caneletter Sans
- Dawning of a New Day
Unique Tattoo Fonts
If you want something completely outside of the box, check out this list of unique tattoo fonts. These are not your typical tattoo fonts, yet possess a lot of character that can bring something special to your overall design.
- Victorian Inline Shaded Std
- Premier Shaded Std
- Farrier ICG Shaded
- Lombardic Capitals Std
- Killed DJ
- Do Not Exist
- Hedera ITC TT
- Cabaret Std
- Core Dodam
- Cineplex Std
Tattoo Font Design Ideas
There are infinite ways to go about personalizing your design. It comes down to your preference and the goal of your design. Take a look at these tattoo font design ideas that can help guide the creation of your project.
- Minimalist
A minimalist design is extremely simple in design with a minimal amount of text and/or images. This can include names, dates, or symbols. We suggest going for contemporary fonts listed under the Cool Tattoo Fonts category.
- Traditional
A traditional design is generally bold with lots of animation and detail, almost the opposite of a minimalist design. You can use a variety of colors or different techniques of shading and outlining in the font. We suggest using any of the fonts listed under Traditional Tattoo Fonts.
- Picture-Word Combination
A picture and word combination design can vary greatly depending on your design goal and preferences. You can realistically use any tattoo font as long as it aligns with the theme of the image.
- Font Pairing
Many people opt to pair two different fonts in one design. When done right, a good font pairing can look fabulous. For an in-depth look at good font pairings, check out Complete Guide to Font Pairing.
- Outline and Shading
This design can incorporate patterns, pictures, or any other detail inside or outside each letter outline. This can range from a simple shading technique to a more complex pattern shaded into each letter. We suggest using fonts with outlines or shading incorporated in them.
Design With Picsart
Now that you’ve seen some of the best tattoo fonts, it’s time to start creating your tattoo mockup. Here’s how to design your own tattoo in Picsart, whether you’re pranking your friends or researching before you ink.
On mobile: For mobile projects, open the Picsart app and follow these easy instructions:
- Tap on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen.
- Upload an image or background to start your design.
- Tap on the Text icon at the bottom of your screen.
- Type in the first piece of text and choose the orientation (left, middle, or right).
- Click on the checkmark at the top right and place the text anywhere on your image.
- You can resize the text by dragging the arrow on the bottom right corner of the text box. To change the orientation, move the curved arrow on the top right corner of the text box in a circular motion until you achieve the desired orientation.
- You’ll see a number of font options at the bottom. Scroll through and select your desired tattoo font.
- After selecting the font, you can edit the font’s color, opacity, shadow, etc.
- Click Apply at the top right once you’re done editing.
- To add additional text, select the Text icon again to type in your second piece of text and repeat the above instructions. You can choose a different tattoo font if you want to create a contrast.
- Use other editing tools to add effects, stickers, text, or any other additions to your design.
- For tattoo-inspired stickers, search ‘tattoos’ under the Stickers tool and apply desired stickers anywhere on your design.
- Save or post your image.
On web:
- Open the Picsart Web editor and start a new project.
- Select Uploads in the left panel toolbar and upload a photo of yourself if you want to test a variety of tattoo fonts on your image.
- Now, click on Text in the left toolbar, select a heading size, and start typing. You can always change the font size later. Move the text box to the desired area on your image. You can also adjust the text box size by clicking and diagonally dragging the corners of the textbox.
- Click on the default font name in the toolbar above the image and you’ll see the fonts tools appear in the left toolbar. Select from a variety of the best tattoo fonts until you find the right one for you.
- You can also use the above toolbar to adjust for size, letter spacing, line height, alignment, caps, and the options to make your text bold, italic, or underlined. For a cool tattoo font, play around with the Outline and Shadow settings.
- If you want to add a design to your tattoo mockup that’s not just text-based, click on the Stickers in the left toolbar and search for ‘tattoos’.
- Once your project is complete, click Download in the top right to save your design.
Create at the Speed of Culture
Picsart is a photo and video editing platform and creative community. A top 20 most downloaded app worldwide with over 150 million monthly active users, its AI-powered tools enable creators of all levels to design, edit, draw, and share content anywhere. The platform has amassed one of the largest open-source content collections in the world, including photos, stickers, backgrounds, templates, and more. Used by consumers, marketers, content creators and businesses, Picsart tools fulfill both personal and professional design needs. Picsart has collaborated with major artists and brands like BLACKPINK, Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Warner Bros. Entertainment, iHeartMedia, Condé Nast, and more. Download the app or start editing on web today, and upgrade to Gold for premium perks!
