So you want to get a Chinese Character Tattoo? Good choice! It will say something about you that is unique, more than just text in your own language, elegant, strong, beautiful, and will allow for a different size and style choices than linear left-to-right text offers. The problem is, what to get, will it be correct, and what size, shape, or style to use?

Online tattoo services can provide assistance in these areas. Some of these services even specialize in Chinese Character designs. You should approach on of these services and inquire about their knowledge level of Chinese, meaning the language itself, and go from there.

Someone that speaks or reads and writes Chinese is a must for getting a Chinese character tattoo designed properly. Chinese characters are not just pretty lines in a random order. Stroke order and direction play a major part in making the character legible and meaningful. A design service that understands this will ensure that your tattoo is exactly what you want.

Just as in English, Tibetan, or any other language, despite that Chinese is not an alphabetical script, Chinese writing takes many forms. There are many styles of "cursive" handwriting and "block" writing that within a tattoo design can emulate brush strokes, printing techniques, or futuristic design. Depending on what you want to say with your tattoo, a variety of these maybe good or poor choices for your design.

Understanding the language is also a must. It is easy to piece together unknown characters and disregard their meaning, but it is doubtful that the integrity of a recipient of a Chinese character design would ever be that low. The meaning of a word or phrase in one language may not directly translate into Chinese and only someone that has studied the language will know how to convert the meaning over into Chinese characters properly. This is something in which a good online service will specialize in doing.

So what should you do, then? Follow these easy steps:

1. Research some online services, select one that has a history with or publicizes that they work with Chinese characters, then contact them to start your design process.

2. Determine what you want to say in your native language and then get the service to help you determine ways in which that will translate properly into Chinese.

3. Use the online libraries and work with the designers and your local tattoo artist to settle on which style of character will work best for you. Consider body placement, other tattoos, colour, size, and anything that deals with the character as an image. After all, your tattoo is artwork regardless of its meaning.

That's it! You should have a great design ready to print off for flash that you can simply take to your trusted local artist and get the ink you desire! You can start by reading reviews of tattoo design services reviewed here, some of which specialize in Chinese character design: customtattoos.bravehost.com