This App Lets You Test Out New Tattoos Before Going Under The Needle

Try it before you buy it!
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Making the leap of getting a new tattoo can be nerve-wracking. How do you know for sure that you'll love how it looks after you've committed to a lifetime with it? Enter InkHunter, a free app that can save you from post-ink regrets by showing you how that hypothetical tat will look on your skin.

InkHunter uses augmented reality, which takes a real-world view on a camera and, well, augments it with digital sensory additions (in this case pictures of tattoos), to display your would-be tattoo on your body. First, app users show the system which part of their body they want the tattoo to appear on with the help of their phone camera and a pen (this may require the assistance of a friend if you're looking to get a tattoo on a hard-to-reach spot, like your back). After that, they can choose from a library of popular design options or draw their own. After a design is chosen, the app superimposes the tattoo image onto the body and provides an option of reshaping the design to ensure it fits correctly. Users can also save the image to their phone's camera roll. Suddenly, committing to a tattoo is that much less intimidating! The downside is that it can only provide a visual from a somewhat close-up view, so it's tough to get an idea of what your tattoo would look like from a bit farther away.

InkHunter was created by four Ukrainian university students back in 2014 at a 48-hour hackathon. The app has been available to the public for about a year, but it recently underwent a major user-friendly overhaul. Inkhunter CEO Oleksandra Rohachova told the Daily Mail that the app has had 200,000 downloads since its launch, and from the sounds of it, the app's popularity is only growing.

It's tough to grasp how the app works without seeing some examples for yourself, so check out the video and images below to see how the magic happens. Who knows, maybe one of the app's tattoo ideas will inspire some of your own body art.

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Photo Credit: InkHunter