Analog & Digital Tattoo Design, Pros & Cons for Each Method

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Analog
If you can get the client in front of you at the tattoo shop, analog has a lot of benefits. If you’ve developed any kind of mapping style for a tattoo sleeve, this is probably the best way to guarantee that you don’t miss any of the clients' unique body shapes.
To ensure accuracy, map out the locations of specific landmarks on the body using shapes and colors. For example, circles might denote bones, squares or pluses might depict pits, and triangles could identify bends or joints. Also, don't forget to note any scarring that the client might have forgotten to mention.
Getting to design the tattoo sleeve to a customer's exact measurements, you can be sure that the design will fit well on their body. This takes out all of the guesswork on your part as to whether an element is going to work in a certain area.
Some of the downsides to drawing strictly analog are speed (depending on artist), the noise of the tracing paper, and how cumbersome it can be when working on larger designs like backs. This is really where digital comes in handy.
Digital
Although digital tattoo design doesn't give a totally accurate body map, it does make up for that in efficiency and convenience.
For example, by taking a few pictures of your client from different angles and then compiling them into panels, you can help the customer visualize how the tattoo will look on their own body from different angles. Doing this can also assist you with making each section of the tattoo completely unique to that area of skin by separating the focal points.
Although going digital has many advantages, there are some disadvantages as well. One thing to think about is how challenging it can be to put the different panels together and line up all the elements correctly. Most experienced tattoo artists can make a pretty good guess of where everything will go, but when the customer arrives you may still need to reprint and shift things around a bit to get it perfect.
Also, If you’re a tattoo artist that has any kind of out-of-state clientele then you know how difficult it can be to get good photos from the client. Even if the client has help snapping some decent shots a lot of them just aren't thinking of things like lighting or angle so you might not get that perfect angle you need. Examples usually help ease this process, but it can be a real dice throw.
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