"Something floral, maybe on the forearm." "Like that piece I saw online, but softer." "I'll know it when I see it."
Every tattoo artist hears some version of this in consultations. The client has a feeling for what they want but no picture of it. The first step is getting both of you to look at the same idea.
Most artists scroll through reference images together or sketch on the spot. Both work, and both take time. AI image generation can help here. You describe the idea and get a rough concept on screen that you and the client can react to. You will not tattoo that image. It gives the conversation a concrete starting point, and you take it from there with your own drawing.
Here is how that works in ellume's Gallery, and where AI helps and where it does not.
Where consultations get stuck
The client cannot picture it. They want a Japanese-style piece but cannot say how big, how dark, or how much background. Until they see something, every answer is a guess.
Sketching every direction takes time. A quick sketch is still the best tool you have. When the client wants to compare three directions before committing, drawing all three in the chair is a lot to ask.
AI does not solve the design problem for you. It gives you quick, disposable images to talk about, so the time you spend drawing goes into the direction the client actually picked.
Why general AI image tools feel awkward
General AI image tools start you at an empty text box. You need to know which words get a clean tattoo-style result instead of a painting or a photo of an arm, and the concept ends up in a downloads folder, separate from the client it was made for.
ellume's Gallery starts from the tattoo side. It gives you prompts that already describe tattoo work, keeps AI edits as versions of the same image, and lets you attach the result to the client's profile.
Templates and Freeform
You start in the Gallery on your iPad or iPhone and tap the button to create a new image. The create screen asks what you want to create and shows a set of templates, plus a Freeform option.
A template pre-fills the prompt with a sentence written for that kind of work. Some words in that sentence are highlighted. Tap one and a row of options appears, many with a small preview image. You change the prompt by tapping words instead of writing it from scratch.
You can also type anywhere in the prompt to replace a highlighted word or add details the options do not cover. If typing during a consultation is awkward, the microphone button lets you dictate, and the transcribed text is added to the prompt. Freeform gives you an empty prompt for when you already know what to write.
For tattoo work, you will mostly use Design, Stencil and Flash. You can switch templates from the strip at the bottom of the create screen, and pick an aspect ratio that suits the piece before you generate.
Sketching a concept with Design
Design is the first template on the create screen, right after Freeform, and the one you will use most in consultations. Its prompt reads like a short brief: a style, a subject, a placement and a mood. Each of those is a highlighted word.
Say a client wants something floral on the forearm in fine line. You tap the style word and pick fine line, set the placement to forearm, and type "peony with a few leaves" in place of the suggested subject. Tap send, and the concept appears on its own screen when it is ready.
The placement word tells the AI which part of the body the design is for. The result shows a direction for style, subject and composition. It does not show how the design will sit on this client's arm, so placement and sizing stay your call.
From there, the conversation gets specific. "Can the leaves be bolder?" "What would it look like in blackwork?" Change the words, generate again, and look at the new option together.
Every option row also has an Upload button. Use it to swap a highlighted word for a photo, for example a picture of the flower the client has in mind instead of a typed subject.
Adding reference images
Reference images give the AI visual context beyond the words. Tap the image button in the toolbar to add one from the camera, your photo library or your files. You can add up to 10 reference images to one generation, and each shows up as a small image inside the prompt.
Useful references in a tattoo consultation:
- A photo of an existing tattoo on the client, when the new piece needs to work with what is already there
- A rough sketch you drew on paper, so the AI builds on your idea instead of starting from nothing
- An image the client brought for mood or subject, as a starting point for your own take
When you generate with a reference image, ellume keeps the first reference image as the starting version of the result. The new image opens with a before and after slider already showing, so you can see straight away what the AI changed.
Turning a design into a stencil
Stencil takes an existing design and asks the AI to redraw it as clean outlines, with no fills and no shading, on a plain background like a transfer sheet. You set the line color, the line weight and the background with the highlighted words.
There are two ways to use it.
From the create screen. Pick Stencil and tap the "your design" word. The image picker opens, and you add the design from the camera, your photo library or your files. This works for a design you drew on paper or a concept you saved to your camera roll.
From an image you already generated. Open the image in the Gallery, tap the edit button (the pencil) and choose Stencil from the templates on the edit screen. The template uses the image you are looking at as the design, and the stencil is saved as a new version of that image.
An AI stencil is a draft. Linework that looks fine on screen can merge, break or drift once you print it at size, so check every line and clean it up the way you would with any traced design.
Flash sheets
Flash builds a flash sheet prompt with a style and a color treatment you pick. It is handy when you want ideas for a flash day or a starting point for a set of small pieces. Take the sheet as a source of ideas and redraw the pieces you like in your own hand before you offer them to clients. Flash is available on the create screen only, not when you edit an existing image.
Editing a result
AI edits. Tap the edit button (the pencil) to open the edit screen. The prompt starts with the current image, and you describe the change, such as "make the leaves bolder" or "add a small bee near the top". You can dictate the change and use templates here too. On the edit screen, Design offers highlighted words for line weight, shading and level of detail. Each AI edit is saved as a new version, and the earlier image stays where it was.
Manual edits. The adjust button (the sliders) opens crop, draw and adjust tools. Drawing is handy for marking up a concept while you talk. Undo and redo work until you save. When you save, ellume asks whether to Save as New or Overwrite Original. Overwriting replaces the image, so pick Save as New when you want to keep the earlier state.
Versions and the compare slider
Every AI edit, and every manual edit saved as new, adds a version to the same image. On the image screen you swipe through the versions, and each generated or edited version shows its version number. In the Gallery, versions of one image are grouped together, so a long consultation does not scatter loose images across your library.
Tap Compare to open a before and after slider. It compares the version you are looking at with the version directly before it, and you drag the divider across the image to see what changed. On the first version there is nothing to compare against, so the button does not appear. For a client who is unsure, dragging the slider beats asking them to remember the last option.
Keeping concepts with the client
A concept is only useful if you can find it again at the appointment. From the menu on any image you can:
- Attach to Client. Pick one or more clients. The image appears in each client's Creations tab, next to Files and Notes in their profile.
- Share the image through your device's share sheet, for example to send the concept to the client.
- Save to Camera Roll when you need the file outside the app.
- Add to Favorites, then filter the Gallery to show favorites only.
When the client comes back, open their profile and the concepts you explored are in Creations. Together with photos and notes from each session, that gives you one place to look before you start the final drawing. For what happens once the session is done, see the post-session workflow guide.
Each generation and each AI edit uses AI units from your ellume plan. Manual edits do not. If you run out of AI units, the app asks you to upgrade your plan before you can generate more.
It also works for other crafts
The create screen covers more than tattoo work. There are templates for hair, such as Haircut for cuts and color and Occasion for updos, for photo work like changing a picture's background, and for a few other crafts. They all work the same way, with highlighted words, reference images, versions and the compare slider.
AI as a starting point, not a replacement
These images are rough concepts that give you and the client something to point at early in a consultation. They come from a model that does not know this client's skin, how the piece has to flow with their anatomy, or how fine lines hold up over the years.
The design you tattoo is still yours. You redraw it, size it, fit it to the body and decide what will last. Many clients appreciate hearing that the concept helped you understand what they want and that you will now draw it properly. The same goes for AI images a client made at home. Use them to understand what the client is after, then design the piece yourself.
