01
Give every source a role
Use a short label such as Likeness, Pose, Detail, Lighting, Lettering, or a custom role. The label explains the source's job in the design.
Free multi-reference design prep
Tattoo Reference Board Maker
Organize multiple tattoo references into one board and label what each image should contribute to the final design. Make the primary source, supporting details, keep decisions, and ignore decisions explicit before drawing or stencil prep.
2-12 source imagesRoles + priorityClean PNG outputYour references stay in your browser
Reference Board Builder
Organize source images around what each one contributes to one tattoo design. Images stay in your browser.
2-12 refsNo AINo upload
01 / ADD REFERENCES
Start with the sources, then say why each one matters.
Add client photos, composition references, details, lettering, ornament, or lighting examples. This board is for one design direction, not an inspiration library.
Portrait direction
Primary likeness + supporting lighting and ornament sources.
Primary · Likeness
Use: eyes, nose, head angle
Secondary · Lighting
Support · Ornament
Not just images side by side
A useful reference answers: why is this source here?
The board is designed around contribution, not decoration. When several references disagree, the artist can see which source owns likeness, pose, composition, lettering, ornament, lighting, or another part of the direction.
02
Set hierarchy without scoring
Primary, Secondary, and Support communicate which source wins when references conflict. There is no numeric importance score and a Primary is optional.
03
Separate keep from ignore
Record the features to preserve and the parts that should not travel into the design. A portrait can contribute the face angle while its background and clothing are explicitly excluded.
04
State one overall direction
A short global brief connects the references: which source supplies the head angle, which supplies ornament, and where the artist should keep more negative space or simplify detail.
Three different artifacts
Source direction is not flash layout or final session prep.
Keeping these jobs separate prevents the reference board from becoming a generic collage tool or a duplicate of later studio handoffs.
Reference Board Maker
What should we take from each source?
Multiple source references for one design, explicit roles, hierarchy, keep/ignore decisions, and a concise design direction.
Flash Sheet Maker
How should finished designs share a sheet?
Flash Sheet Maker arranges multiple completed flash designs for print or presentation. Those images are outputs, not source ingredients for one design.
Open Flash Sheet MakerSession Reference Sheet
What does the artist need during the final session?
That later job belongs to the final reference, final stencil, size, orientation, and operational notes. This board deliberately stops earlier, while sources are still shaping the design.
Open Session Reference SheetReference workflow
Check individual sources, then organize how they relate.
Technical source quality and multi-source direction are separate questions. Use the single-image checker when one reference may be blurry, undersized, or tonally weak; use this board when several usable sources need a clear relationship.
If an important source may not contain enough usable information, run the Reference Photo Quality Checker first. It measures one file; it does not decide how that file relates to the rest of the brief.
If proportions inside one source need manual visual addressing, use the Reference Grid Overlay. The board only frames and labels a source; it does not add measurement coordinates or correct perspective.
Once the source direction is clear, continue into the photo-to-stencil workflow or the relevant portrait workflow. The exported board is a communication artifact, not a generated stencil.
Limits and privacy
The board communicates direction. It does not grant rights or make design decisions for you.
The tool stays deliberately narrow so a private reference-prep job does not become an image editor, search engine, or client-management product.
Your source images stay in your browser. The tool creates local previews and uses the original local files when you export the final PNG. There is no cloud save, account, collaboration, or share-link service.
Use reference material you are allowed to work from. The board does not determine copyright, licensing, permission, originality, or whether a source may be copied.
Priority and notes are artist-entered communication. The tool does not decide tattooability, artistic quality, likeness, anatomy, placement, physical size, stencil correctness, or the final tattoo result.
Related tattoo tools
Keep each reference job with its real owner.
Check one source technically, inspect one image's proportions, then move into design review or session preparation only when the reference direction is clear.
View all tattoo tools01Reference Photo CheckPreflight a client reference at the intended final width with focus-region sampling, sharpness, tone, clipping, detail-risk, and file diagnostics before stencil prep.Final-size samplingFocus-region diagnosticsBrowser-local report02Design Review SheetPackage one exact tattoo artwork version, review status, target size, orientation, placement summary, and final notes into a browser-local review PNG or clean print sheet.One design statePNG + clean printBrowser-local03Session Reference SheetKeep the final stencil, optional visual reference, version, recorded size, mirror state, placement summary, and artist-written cues together in one A4 or US Letter operational handoff.Final stencil + referenceA4 + US LetterBrowser-local handoff
Practical guides
FAQ
Tattoo reference board questions.
The board is deliberately designed for source direction before final artwork and session preparation.
It organizes several source images for one tattoo design and records what each source should contribute. Roles, priority, keep notes, ignore notes, and one short design direction make the board more useful than a loose image collage.
No. The layout is intentionally constrained. The useful data is why each tattoo reference is present, which source is primary, what to preserve, and what not to copy. It does not provide a freeform design canvas, image search, branding tools, or collaboration.
Flash Sheet Maker arranges multiple finished tattoo or flash designs for print or presentation. Reference Board Maker organizes multiple source images that contribute to one design direction before the final artwork or stencil is settled.
No. This board is an input and design-preparation artifact. Session Reference Sheet is a later operational artifact built around the final reference, final stencil, size, orientation, and artist-written session cues.
No. Image decoding, preview framing, ordering, and PNG export run in the browser. The tool has no account, cloud project storage, collaboration service, or backend image upload.