But if you're considering a small tattoo, you will need to put as much thought into it has design as you would that of a large one. The first thing you should do is get a ruler and look at the difference between a 1 inch, 2 inch, and 3 inch tattoo. While none of them sounds very large, if you draw circles with those diameters, you will get a good idea of how much larger a 3 inch tattoo is than a 1 inch tattoo.