Tattoo consent form: what goes in it, state age rules and a template

Keep the consent form apart from your booking form

Your booking form comes first. It collects the idea, placement, size, references and budget, so you can decide whether to take the job and what to quote. The consent form comes later, once the date is set and the design is close to final. That's where the client confirms their age, tells you about their health, reads the risks and agrees to look after the tattoo.

A third record often gets mixed in with these: which version of the design the client approved. That belongs with the design itself, dated, so nobody argues about it in the chair. There's more on that in how to send designs in advance. Keep all three apart: a client who is still choosing between two ideas has no reason to list their medications for you yet.

What goes into a tattoo consent form

These are the sections most forms cover, and why each one is there. If your state, county or council publishes its own list, follow theirs and use this one to fill the gaps.

Age and ID

Ask for the date of birth, then leave a line for the artist to write down which ID they checked. Texas requires the artist to record the client's age, date of birth and the type of ID, and the ID has to be government-issued, with a photo and the date of birth on it. A form filled in at home can't check anyone's ID. That line gets filled in at the counter.

Health questions

Yes/no questions with room for details get better answers than one open box. The usual ones: allergies (latex, pigments, ointments), blood thinners or other medication that affects bleeding, conditions that slow healing such as diabetes, skin problems where you'll be working, pregnancy or breastfeeding, and recent drinking. The answers tell you whether to go ahead today or ask the client to check with their doctor first.

Risks, in plain words

Texas makes artists explain four risks, out loud and in writing, before they start: pain or discomfort, that the tattoo is permanent, infection, and a possible allergic reaction to the pigments or other materials. Even where your state doesn't spell it out, those four are a good place to start. Write them the way you'd say them. “This is permanent” gets read. “Irreversible pigment deposition” gets skimmed.

Aftercare

Add a line where the client confirms they've received your aftercare instructions, read them and understood them. Texas requires that statement in the client record, next to the client's signature, and Florida requires aftercare information both verbally and in writing. The instructions themselves go on their own sheet; here's a tattoo aftercare sheet you can adapt.

Photos

Ask whether you can photograph the tattoo and post it, and whether they want to be tagged. Give it a separate tick box so a “no” here doesn't hold up the rest of the form.

How they are on the day

Finish with a short declaration: they've eaten, they aren't under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and the answers above are still true. In Texas, nobody who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs may be tattooed. If the declaration and the person in front of you don't match, go with the person.

Send it two days ahead, then go over it at the counter

A form handed over at the counter gets read in the time it takes you to set up. Sent two days before, it gets read at home, with time to message you about that medication question. You hear about the blood thinners on Thursday, while there's still time to move the session, and not on Saturday with the stencil already on.

Sending early doesn't replace the day itself. Florida's record carries the date of the procedure, and Texas wants the risks explained, out loud and in writing, before you begin. Treat the early form as the client's answers, then go through it together when they arrive: confirm nothing has changed, check the ID, and collect whatever signature your rules ask for. If you also send a reminder the day before, the consent form lands a day earlier, so the two messages don't compete for attention.

Age rules and record keeping depend on where you work

Most of the form travels well. The age section doesn't. A 17-year-old with a parent can legally get tattooed in Florida with the right paperwork, can only get a cover-up in Texas, and can't be tattooed at all in California or in Great Britain.

In Canada and Australia the rules differ from one province or state to the next, so check with your provincial or state health authority before you use any template, including the one below.

A consent form template to copy

TATTOO CONSENT FORM
[Studio name] · [Address] · [License number, if your state issues one]

CLIENT
Full name:
Date of birth:
Phone or email:
Artist:
Date of appointment:
Placement and short description of the tattoo:

AGE AND ID (completed by the artist at the studio)
Type of photo ID checked:
Checked by:
[Florida, client aged 16 or 17: attach the notarized form DH 4146 and note the parent's or guardian's ID.]

HEALTH (answer yes or no, and add details for any yes)
Allergies to latex, pigments, ointments or metals: Yes / No
Blood thinners or other medication that affects bleeding: Yes / No
Diabetes, a heart condition or anything else that slows healing: Yes / No
A skin condition, scar, mole or irritation where the tattoo will go: Yes / No
Pregnant or breastfeeding: Yes / No
Alcohol or recreational drugs in the last [24] hours: Yes / No
Details:

RISKS
I understand that:
- Getting tattooed involves pain or discomfort.
- The tattoo is permanent, and removing it later is not guaranteed.
- The skin can become infected, especially if I don't follow the aftercare instructions.
- I could have an allergic reaction to the pigments or other materials.
- How the tattoo heals depends on my skin, the placement and my aftercare.

AFTERCARE
I have received a copy of the written aftercare instructions. I have read them and I understand them. I will follow them and contact the studio if I'm worried about how the tattoo is healing.

PHOTOS
[ ] You may photograph my tattoo and post it online.
[ ] You may tag me. Handle:

DECLARATION
I am [18] or older. I have eaten today and I am not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The answers above are true. I have had the chance to ask questions, and I agree to be tattooed by [artist name] at [studio name].

Client signature:                    Date:
Artist signature:                    Date:

What still happens in person

The open question with any digital tattoo consent form is whether a ticked box counts as a signature. US federal law (the ESIGN Act) treats an electronic sound, symbol or process as a signature when the person adopts it with the intent to sign. Florida's and Texas's health rules still say “client signature”, though, and whether an inspector accepts a ticked box with a timestamp is up to the health department in your area. Ask them before you drop paper completely.

OpenInk Studio collects consent with a tick box. It doesn't take handwritten signatures, it doesn't check ID, and it has no step for a parent or guardian to sign. Cover those at the studio:

• Check the client's government photo ID when they arrive and note the type of ID. In Texas that goes into the client record.
• If your health department wants a handwritten signature, print your form and have the client sign it at the counter. Keep the paper as long as your rules require, which is two years in Florida and Texas.
• For a 16- or 17-year-old in Florida, the parent comes in person with ID and the notarized form DH 4146, and you keep that paper. In Texas, under-18 work is limited to cover-ups with the parent there and a signed affidavit. In California and Great Britain the answer is no.
• If something changed since the client ticked the box (a new prescription, say), write it down and decide before you start whether to go ahead.

If a client says the email never arrived, use Copy signing link and send it by text or DM. If a session doesn't need a form under your rules, Skip signing marks it as skipped so it stops showing as waiting.