The five steps
- Choose the recording. A voicemail, a voice memo, the audio from a video, or record it fresh in the studio. Short and clear works best: one phrase, one laugh, one “I love you”.
- Make the glyph and hear it scan — before paying. Pick a style and colour, then scan it on screen with your phone. If it is not the moment you wanted, try another.
- Keep it and download the artwork. One payment. The SVG artwork is in My Glyphs, at full resolution, for your artist.
- Test the size and placement. Print the artwork at the exact size you plan, hold it where it will go, and scan it. Glyphs read best on flatter areas viewed straight on — forearm, upper arm, calf, shoulder blade.
- Tattoo, heal, scan. Ask your artist to trace the artwork rather than redraw it, in a dark ink with strong contrast. Scan it again once it has healed.
Size, contrast and healing
- Do not go too small. Ink spreads a little as a tattoo heals, and fine lines that sit too close together can merge. If your test print scans easily from a comfortable distance, the size is right.
- Contrast is everything. Dark ink on skin reads best. Pale or low-contrast colours make the camera’s job harder.
- Keep the code whole. The decorative style can be adapted; the central code cannot. Your artist should copy it exactly.
- Healing takes a few weeks. A fresh tattoo can look blurred and shiny. Scan it properly once it has settled.
Will it still play in twenty years?
That is the question to ask of any soundwave tattoo, because the ink lasts longer than most apps do. TraceSound’s answer is the Forever Promise: one payment and no renewals, a share of our profits set aside to keep recordings online, your audio always downloadable, and a written plan if we ever stopped. Comparing options? See how TraceSound compares with Skin Motion.
The same voice, off the skin too
The glyph you tattoo can also become an acrylic block or an engraved oak board, made by TraceSound — something the rest of the family can scan from a shelf. See the keepsakes.
Questions
Can any soundwave tattoo be played back?
No. A waveform drawn from a sound is just a picture of it — a phone cannot turn the shape back into the voice. It plays only if the tattoo is linked to the recording, and TraceSound does that through the glyph’s own shape.
Do I need an app to play a TraceSound tattoo?
No. Anyone can open the TraceSound scan page in their phone’s browser, point the camera at the tattoo, and hear it. No app and no account.
Is there a yearly fee to keep the tattoo playing?
No. You pay once when you keep the glyph. Nothing renews, and a share of our profits goes into the Forever Fund, which pays for keeping recordings online.
Can my artist change the design?
Colour, and the decorative style you chose in the studio, yes. The code at the heart of the glyph must be copied exactly — it is what the camera reads. Ask your artist to trace the downloaded artwork, not to redraw it by eye.