Tattoo Tutorial

How to tattoo your pony on Pony Island by HollyAnn

Next to breeding your pony on Pony Island, one of the number one questions asked is "How do I tattoo my pony?"  Such things also bring up questions as to "How do I make my own tattoo? What size does it have to be?  How do I make it a transparent GIF?" and so on.  This tutorial has been updated to suit PI-NG (Pony Island - Next Generation), so you can understand how to tattoo your pony.

First, there are a few things you need to find out before you tattoo your pony.  In this tutorial, I'll discuss each and every points:

  1. Your pony MUST be an adult
  2. Find out where you want your tattoo on your pony.
  3. Find or make your tattoo
  4. Apply the tattoo to your pony


1. Your Pony Must Be An Adult

Before you can even apply a tattoo onto a pony, your pony MUST be an adult pony.  From the day of birth, it takes your baby 20 days to grow up.  After those 20 days are up, your baby will grow up into an adult and then they are ready to become an adult.  There is no way for you to tattoo a baby pony.


2. Find Out Where You Want Your Tattoo On Your Pony

With the new update to Pony Island (PING) you can now tattoo your pony in three different places!  In many cases, you can make TAF (Twice as Fancy) patterns for your ponies, or, you can just put one tattoo on the pony, it's up to you! 

A handy little site that you can go to is the PI Tattoo Location Guide.   At that site, it'll not only show you where on the pony's body are the tattoos, but it'll also show you how they'll look like once they're attached to the pony.  Unlike old Pony Island, the tattoos don't lay flat on the pony.  They make it look like as if it curves to the pony's body/shell, making it look more like an authetic tattoo.  The locations of the tattoo (according to the Location Guide) are colour coded.  Since now there's three tattoo locations you can choose, there will be three slots in which you can choose to upload your tattoo onto.  You can read up more about all of that on the Location Guide, and be sure to bookmark it in your web browser, it's very handy! :)


3. Find or Make Your Tattoo

Tattoos can be easy or hard to make, depending on well you're accustomed to art programs.  There are a number of PI players that are more than willing to make a tattoo for you for a price, but if you want to make your own tattoo, this is the section to do it in.  Here are the things you will need:
Nevertheless, you'll still need an art program of some kind.  Art programs can range anywhere from Microsoft Paint (which is included with your Windows CD), to PhotoShop and everything in between (like Paint Shop Pro, MGI PhotoSuite, and so on).  Again, if you're using a clip art piece, PLEASE make sure it's alright with the company/original artist that you can alter their clip art for this.  If you're inclined to draw directly into the computer useing the mouse or tablet, you can do that as well.  For me personally, I use PhotoShop 6.0 as my main art program, which I'll be using to make this tutorial..

Before we start, I'm going to mention that for the sake of this tutorial, I'll be making a tattoo for my female Shellie, Crystal Light.  And here we go!

First, go to the PI Tattoo Location Guide.  I picked the Female Shellie "Location" picture.  Save it to your computer, and then open it up in your art program:


Use your square/rectangle selector, to select the area in which you want the tattoo to be in.  In this case, it's going to be the red square.  Note:  It's OK if you select a bit of the green in there!  That won't really matter.

While the red section is selected, go to your menu at the top, and choose File -> New.

You'll get a window that pops up with the exact dimentions that your selected red box will be :)  Just click OK.  This means we'll be working with a new file.  Once your new file is visable, go to your Shellie picture and make sure your square/rectangle is still selected.  If isn't, just re-select it again as you did before.  If it's still selected, press Ctrl-C to Copy the image (or, go to Edit -> Copy in the menu).  Then click on your new file that you just made, and make sure that it's active.  Press Ctrl-V to Paste the image on there (or, go to Edit -> Paste in the menu).

So now, your new image should look like this:


Again, don't worry that you've got some green in there.  You won't even see these red and green colours when we're done.  The only reason why we have this red box with the shell on it, is that I'm going to use it as a template, as to how the tattoo is going to fit onto the shell ;)  Now, we're going to make a new, transparent layer.  This is the layer in which we're going to be drawing the tattoo on:


Go to New -> Layer


A window will pop up that will look like this (or simular).  It's already defaulted at what we want to do with it, so just click OK.


If you look at your Layers Options Tab, it should look this.  The layer called "Background" was the original "new" image you created.  The "Layer 1" is the red/green shell, and "Layer 2" is a transparent layer, sitting on top of the Shell drawing.  Make sure that Layer 2 is selected, as it shows here (in darker blue), as now, we're going to start drawing our tattoo!


Select your pencil tool in the tool bar.  Set the width of your pencil appropriately (I had mine at 1 or 2 size pixels).  From here, simply draw your tattoo (using the mouse or a tablet, whichever you're comfortable with).


I like to blow up my drawing so that I can see what I'm doing ;)  I'm making a pretty shell jewel decoration for Crystal Light...again, make sure you're drawing on the Transparent Layer!  I want the jewel decoration to look like it's resting on her shell, so I just trace along he top of the shell, as to where I want it.  Again, don't worry about drawing over the green section, that's not going to matter.


This is what the finished shell jewel will look like :)  Just draw in whatever you want to have as your tattoo.  But remember, make sure the tattoo stays inside the entire box!  So...whatever you see here in this box (both red and green), and as long as you stay inside the lines of the pony, you're fine :)

Now comes the tricky part.  We're going to make this into a transparent GIF.


Remember your Layers tab?  Go back to that, and Right-Click on the Layer 1 (that's the layer that has the red/green shell.  A menu will come up once you Right-Click on it.  Choose Delete Layer.  This will delete the red/green shell.  Also delete the Background Layer, by just repeating this (Right-click on it, choose delete).


Because the layer you drew the tattoo on was already transparent, it should look like this, once the Layer 1 and Background Layer have been deleted.  The grey and white checkered background means that that is a transparent background you're seeing, which is EXACTLY what we want ;)

Next, go to File -> Save As...  Name it whatever you want and save it as a GIF format.  A window will pop up with options, that should look like this:

Be sure to check the box that says "Transparency"!  That's VERY important! :)  Just click Ok.  Another box will open, asking if you want to save it as Normal, or Interlaced.  Choose Normal, and click OK.

4. Apply The Tattoo To Your Pony

Whew!  The tattoo has been made!  Now it's time to put it on the pony!

Remember those colour codes?  Well, since the shell we were working in was red, this means that it belongs to Slot 2.  So, we go to Crystal Light, and click the Edit button.  The edit features will come up for Crystal Light:

Since her shell was red, and it's Slot 2, I simply choose Slot 2 by clicking Browse and finding the location of the tattoo that's going to be uploaded.  After that, click the Update button.  This will upload the pony's tattoo and display it on her shell.

And here's the finished product!

Now, granted, it's not like "old" Pony Island...the tattoo will blend itself in so it's more like a natural tattoo, really.  That's why the tattoo looks the way it does ;)  It still looks pretty though :)  And that's all there is to making tattoos!

If you want to make a tattoo for a different part of the body (or for a non-shellie), it's basically the same thing  as I showed you here, except you use a different pony, or a different tattoo location.  The beauty of Pony Island's update is that you can remove the tattoo if you don't like it, or, if sometime down the line if you want to change it and give it a new tattoo, you can always remove it :)


Common Questions About Tattooing Your Pony

1. What if I don't have PhotoShop?
You don't need Photoshop to create and make tattoos.  You can use any art program out there, including Paint Shop Pro, which has a free downloadable trial that you can try out.  Another good art program is called GIMP.  It has many of the functions of Photoshop and is free to download and use!  Yet another completely free art program to download, is DrawPlus.  This program also features shapes (like hearts, stars, etc.) that you can even make into custom tattoos!

2. I like this drawing that someone else drew, can I use that?
That depends on the artist.  If it's a drawing that someone else has drawn, you SHOULD get the artist's permission first.  This also goes for any clip art you use.  Some clip art is free to do what you want to, while other clip art you should ask for permission to alter it into making a pony tattoo.  ALWAYS make sure it's alright to use a picture from another artist or from the people who have made the clip art. If they say "No" then do NOT use their picture.  Using someone's picture without their permission could get your pony deleted or you might be banned from playing Pony Island.

3. Making a tattoo sounds complicating, can't I just ask someone else to make it for me?
Yes you can!  You can check out the PI Forums and post that you're looking for someone to do a tattoo for one (or more) of your ponies.  Just remember, it takes time and patience to make a tattoo, and most tattoo artists usually charge for their work.

4. I use a different program to make tattoos, and it looks like it's different to make transparent GIFs in this program...how do you make transparent GIFs in my art program?
Depending on what program your using, it'll be slightly different to make transparent GIFs.  In most cases, the homepage of the art program will have a tutorial on how to make transparent GIFs, or, if you have a friend who also has the program, they might be able to help you :)

5. How big does the tattoo have to be, and what if it's smaller/bigger than it's supposed to be?
With the new update on PI, the dimensions of the tattoo can be the same size of the "box" that you're working in.  For example...in this tutorial, I was working with the red box, for the Shellie's shell.  I didn't have to shrink the picture down or anything, I just saved it in the same dimensions as the box.  The way the new tattoo system works, is that it'll automatically re-size the picture for you on the pony, so it'll fit the pony just right. :)

6. Can I upload a naughty picture for a tattoo?
I think we know the answer to this one...it's ABSOUTELY NOT.    Pony Island is a family-oriented game.  "Naughty" pictures won't be tolerated at all.

7.  Help! I've attached the tattoo onto my pony, but I still see white spots around the tattoo!
Don't panic :)  Simply open up your art program and open the tattoo in there.  Blow up the tattoo so you can see the finer details of it, and choose the smallest pixel for your Eraser tool and "erase" the white dots.  Save the tattoo again and re-upload it.  Repeat if necessary until it looks the way you like it :)

8. Why isn't my tattoo animated??
Well, that's another thing with the new PI update...animated tattoos are no longer available on a pony.  Sorry!

9. This tutorial makes no sense!  Where can get more help?  Can I PM you for help?
Eeps!  Well, I'm sorry it didn't help you :(  You can probably put a post in the appropriate PI Forum to ask for more help.  I don't mind  helping out a little bit, but if I don't answer your PM right way, don't be discouraged...Even if I'm logged into my PI accounts, I may be away from the computer, doing other things ;)

If there's a question that doesn't have an answer listed here, CHECK THE MANUAL FIRST!  If the Manual doesn't have what you're looking for, then you can post your questions in the appropriate PI Forum.

Happy Tattooing! :)