TattoolSet is a website I built for tattoo artists who want better digital tools, resources, and information. Without the markup that usually comes with being a tattooer.
It launched in 2023. It went quiet for a while. I just rebuilt it from scratch this month (November 2026). Here is the story of why it exists, what it is now, and where I am taking it.
What It Is
TattoolSet is an independent library of digital tools, downloads, software picks, guides, and curated links for working tattoo artists.
It’s not a store. Not a marketplace. Not a supplier site. I don’t sell needles, ink, or hardware. Everything on the site is either free, cheap original work, or a link to something useful that isn’t tattoo-specific but matters to people who do this job.
Most of it is free. A few downloads cost $5 or less through Payhip. There are no ads, no affiliate links, no sponsorships. The About page says “tattoo-first, but not tattoo-only.” That’s accurate.
How It Started
I got tired of basic resources and tools being exploited once they added the word “tattoo” to them. Many things are plenty affordable until they’re rebranded for the tattoo industry, then suddenly more expensive even though the product is essentially no different. I’m not sure if it was exploitation or simple elitism. TattoolSet started as a response to that. It’s a place where tools and resources stay honest about their price.
The first thing I built was the Target Hourly Rate Calculator. I wanted a tool to help tattoo artists figure out what they actually need to charge. The formulas I found online didn’t account for the real costs of running a tattoo business. So I tried to build one myself.
I had never written code before. I used ChatGPT to help me put together a browser-based calculator from a single block of HTML I could paste into an online testing environment. It took troubleshooting, wrong numbers, and revising calculations. But it worked. And I published the whole process. Not just the tool, but how I built it.
That became the pattern: find something tattoo artists need, figure out if there is a way to make or curate it, put it online, explain how I did it when that matters.
The Early Days (2023)
The first few months were active. I published:
- The Target Hourly Rate Calculator
- A Letter Box tool for consistent lettering construction (with a Procreate brush and PNG versions)
- Male Anatomy Stamp Set. Posed 3D figure flattened into reference angles
- Eternal Ink swatches research and an affordable digital swatch collection
- Swatches and Palettes guide
Then February 2024, I wrote about Photopea. That was the first time I pointed people at a tool that wasn’t made for tattoo artists but was useful to them. It set the direction: if it helps, it belongs here, regardless of what category it falls under.
After that, things slowed down. Running Nightfall Tattoo takes priority. Other projects pull in different directions. The site became a scattered blog where you had to dig through old posts to find anything. I questioned whether the domain was worth renewing.
The Question That Keeps Coming Up
In June 2024, I asked myself whether TattoolSet justified its existence as a website that doesn’t make money. Whether giving people useful information for free was enough of a reason to keep a site alive.
That’s not a question unique to me. A lot of independent creators wrestle with it. Every website seems expected to have a monetization strategy. What if the strategy is just “this helps people”?
The numbers were never impressive but they weren’t nothing either: roughly 2,000 website requests per week at one point, 60-70 unique IPs, occasional Payhip sales in nearly every month. Domain renewal runs about $16 a year. The site paid for itself most months. That’s not a business. But it’s also not a drain.
I kept it alive because I believed in what it was supposed to be. Even when I wasn’t adding content, the resources already there were helping people who found them. That’s enough reason for me.
The Rebuild (November 2026)
The old site had good content buried under bad organization. So I rebuilt it from scratch with a new custom WordPress theme and a searchable library structure.
The new site organizes everything by four filters:
- Subject: Design & Create, Business & Studio, Technology & AI, Education & Reference
- Type: Tool, Download, Software, Guide/Article
- Access: Free, Paid, Donation-supported
- Compatibility: Procreate, Photoshop, Clip Studio, browser, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, ComfyUI
A single resource can appear under multiple categories without duplicate listings. Someone looking for a free Procreate anatomy tool doesn’t have to dig through an undifferentiated list of posts anymore.
The visual identity stays the same. Logo, wordmark, color palette. Dark charcoal backgrounds, off-white sections, restrained teal and red accents. No stock tattoo machine imagery. No gimmicks. Just something made by someone who works in this industry and cares about how things look.
I designed the theme myself, then had ChatGPT generate concept images of what it could look like. From there I handed those images along with detailed descriptions of function and operations to Claude, who wrote the code to actually build the theme. After that came a lot of manual edits to get everything looking and working the way I wanted.
What’s There Now
Library resources. Curated links on a separate Links page. The infrastructure is solid. The content is thin. I won’t pretend otherwise. A handful of items after three years isn’t much. But the framework can hold hundreds, and that’s the point: build the structure so adding more doesn’t require another rebuild.
The current resources include free tools (the calculator, Letter Box, anatomy stamps), affordable originals (Eternal Swatches at $5), and guides that explain how to do things yourself rather than just selling you the result.
Where It’s Going
I’m not planning to turn TattoolSet into a massive resource site overnight. That would take more time than I have and more content than makes sense to produce quickly.
What I am doing is:
- Adding library entries steadily, not in bursts
- Keeping the Links page updated with tools and sites worth knowing about
- Writing journal posts when there’s something to say
- Taking suggestions through the contact form
- Using AI-assisted workflows (Claude for WordPress work, Hermes for content) to make maintenance manageable without turning the site into automated filler
The goal is modest: keep it sustainable, keep it useful, and build a collection I’d actually recommend to another artist. That’s a standard I can measure. It doesn’t require profit or traffic numbers.
The Connection to Everything Else
TattoolSet sits at the intersection of two things I care about: the tattoo trade and building systems that make creative work easier. Many “resources for tattoo artists” sites are run by suppliers or marketers. Most developer tool directories don’t know anything about this industry. Someone who has spent 18+ years in both worlds can do something neither group does alone. Evaluate tools from a working artist’s perspective and explain them in plain language.
That’s the same approach I use with Nightfall Tattoo’s automation, my design work, and everything else I build. TattoolSet is that philosophy applied to the tattoo trade. Find what works, share it, show how you built it when it matters, keep it independent.
Honest Weak Spots
I want to be upfront about where TattoolSet falls short right now:
- Limited resources. That’s a launch, not a library. Say so. The framework is ready for more.
- Most content dates from 2023. The rebuild is new. The assets aren’t yet.
- Procreate-heavy. Matches my iPad workflow but limits reach for artists who use other platforms.
- Small loose ends. There are still some links and areas of the site that aren’t quite finished.
These are fixable. Some already have fixes in progress. The bigger issue is content volume, not quality. I’d rather have fewer good entries than a hundred mediocre ones.
Why It Still Matters
TattoolSet survived multiple years where it would have been easier to let it die. I wasn’t making money from it. I wasn’t consistently producing content. I had other projects and responsibilities. But I kept coming back to it.
Sometimes we keep projects alive because we enjoy them, because we’ve invested time in them, or because we aren’t quite ready to let go. All of those reasons are legitimate.
What matters now is what I choose to do with it. I’m in a different position from when I started. I have more experience with the tools, a clearer idea of the site’s purpose, and a rebuilt foundation that should make future expansion easier.
TattoolSet doesn’t need to become the largest resource website in the tattoo industry. It needs to be a resource website someone actually uses. Bookmarked, shared, referenced when they need something. If it gives value to anyone other than myself, then it was worth it. Otherwise, it’s still a nice personal library for me. That’s enough.
If you’re a tattoo artist looking for tools, resources, or information that wasn’t marked up just because you work in this trade, check it out at tattoolset.com.
HUMAN × AI COLLABORATION
This article was written with the assistance of AI, using an original outline, rough draft, research, and personal experiences supplied by the author. The writing process involved an ongoing exchange, including AI-generated questions answered by the author to provide additional context, detail, and clarity. All factual contributions, personal perspectives, editorial direction, and final approval remain the responsibility of the author.