Client art to clean, print-ready stencils in about 20 seconds

Stencil Bench is the stencil tool we built for our own artists at Hidden City Tattoo in Peregian Beach, and now any tattooist can use it. Import a client's reference, a photo of a tattoo or your own art, pick a style, and get back crisp black line work ready to drop into Procreate and print.

Open Stencil Bench

Examples

From Ray's flash sheet to a Traditional stencil. Big blacks become outlines, pupils stay solid. One try, Standard, 43c.

From a photo to a Realism stencil, with dotted lines marking the shadows. One try, Fine detail, 76c. Photo: Pexels.

Why I built it

So I made this app because an old client of mine wanted a piece that I had drawn up a while ago, and he saw it in the shop when he came in for another tattoo. We made the booking and I said, "See ya then, bud."

The day he came in for it I was running late (family life!) but I figured it's cool, it's my flash, so I have the outline somewhere. Ah, nope, can't find it, so it's a redraw. "Hey man, how are you? Cool, cool. Do you mind grabbing a coffee or something while I draw this up real quick for you?" No problems there, but now I'm 30 minutes (or so) behind and I'm rushing to knock it out and set up, and I haven't had a coffee! Anyway, the client gets the tattoo, but now I'm 30 minutes behind, the next guy comes in and I have to tell him, "Hey man, I'm a little behind today, can you come back in like 45?" Sound familiar?

So I started looking at solutions for this, and now we have a real time saver. I use this app now for the complicated draw-ups (portraits, Chicano fusions, animal portraits and so on) as a starting point. I still tweak the stencil in Procreate, maybe adding a few shading guides, but it saves me at least an hour of squinting like crazy!

Being busy with the family, I need those minutes and hours back for my life, and if you add up all that time saved, it's actually priceless. For less than the price of the stencil paper, I now have a tool that really works in with my flow.

I still need coffee though.

Ray Robinson, Hidden City Tattoo

What it does

• Three styles: Outline only, Traditional (small blacks stay solid, big blacks become outlines) and Realism (dotted shading guides).
• Lines up with your original, so the stencil drops straight onto your A4 canvas in Procreate. No resizing.
• Clean-up sliders for line weight, fainter lines and stray specks.
• Built for iPad, in Safari. Nothing to install.
• Handles photos of a client's phone screen and photos of tattoos on skin.

Pay per stencil. No subscription.

• Standard: 43c a stencil. Fine detail: 76c.
• Your first 3 Standard stencils are free, or use them on 1 Fine detail stencil.
• Top up $10, $25 or $50 by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Credit never expires.
• If a stencil fails, you get the credit back automatically.

Tees from your designs

Ask your client if they want their tattoo on a tee while they're in the chair. In Stencil Bench, tap Tee from stencil to put the stencil you just made on a tee, or Tee from design for your flash, a drawing or their own art. Pick the colour and front or back, show them the preview, and either order it on your iPad or let them scan a QR code and pay on their own phone.

• $60 a tee, GST and postage included.
• Printed by Printful and posted to the client.
• White, natural, heather, gold, green, red or black.

How it works

1. Open Stencil Bench and sign in with your email (we send you a link, no password).
2. Import your picture and tap Make stencil.
3. Tidy it up with the sliders, then tap Save and put it in Photos.
4. Insert it into your Procreate canvas and print as usual.

Open Stencil Bench

Stencils are drawn by an AI image service, so always check a stencil against the original before it goes on skin. Pictures are processed in the United States and not kept by us. Privacy · Terms · Questions: info@hiddencitytattoo.com.au