How to Read a Tattoo Cartridge Style Code

Do not start from an abbreviation. Read the whole Style value. Where the product page states a millimetre value, you can see that a Style is assembled from three parts — gauge step, needle count and configuration code.

One group within ATTO's current tattoo cartridge needles is supplied as 20-piece packs in the universal-cartridge interface, covering four configurations: RL, RS, RM and M1. Gauge step and needle count are two further segments in the same Style string. A smaller number is not a better needle — it is a different step, not a higher grade.

The four products in the range

Before ordering, match on the title and Style options on the product page. All four state the universal interface and the 20-piece pack in the title.

Step one: the interface

This group carries universal-cartridge in its Machine compatibility field. That is not a promise that it fits every machine; it is the value in the record. A separate group of ATTO cartridges carries the value bmx-screw, and the two values are recorded on different products.

Read the interface from your machine's product page or manual, then go into the matching cartridge family. If it is unclear, send ATTO the exact model or product-page link.

Step two: configuration — four codes, four shapes of contact

• RL (Round Liner) — needles gathered tightly into a bundle with a concentrated point. Used for lines and outlines, and the group that most often fixes a line width while you practise direction.
• RS (Round Shader) — needles arranged around the circumference at a wider spacing, spreading the contact. Used for shading and transitions alongside RL.
• RM (Round Magnum) — multiple needles along an arc, leaving a curved band of contact. Used for packing colour across an area while retaining some arc transition.
• M1 (Magnum) — multiple needles in a flat row, leaving a straight band of contact. Used for larger fills and blocks that need an even edge.

These four are shapes, not rankings. A plan that is missing RL, or missing any shading configuration, stalls exactly where line practice ends and even coverage begins.

Step three: gauge step and the millimetre value

On products that state it, the millimetre equivalent of a gauge step is readable on the product page — a 1R single-needle cartridge lists 0201RL as 1R-0.16mm, 0401RL as 1R-0.18mm, up to 1801RL as 1R-0.50mm.

In this group, RL uses gauge steps 04, 08, 10 and 12; RS, RM and M1 use 10 and 12.

If line width has a hard requirement in your plan — a 0.25mm-class line, for example — confirm the actual gauge of the Style you are buying; for this group the millimetre value behind each gauge step comes from ATTO's gauge table for that model. Structural rules you can read are usable directly; a millimetre value is a question for ATTO, not something to carry over from another product's page.

Step four: needle count

The counts that exist in this group are:

Two reading rules:

1. Count is a count, not a grade. Moving from 1005RL to 1011RL moves to a different count; it is not an upgrade.
2. The count always occupies two digits. A count of 21 is written 1021M1 (gauge 10) or 1221M1 (gauge 12), never 21M1. A code that does not fit "two gauge digits, two count digits, configuration" is worth checking against the product page before you order.

Reading a full Style: four real examples

Every row above corresponds to an option in the matching product's Style selector. The buying action is: open the product page, select that complete Style in the selector, then confirm the pack quantity.

Four comparison mistakes

• Treating a bigger number as better. 0401RL is not a higher grade than 1205RL. Gauge describes the needle diameter; count describes the width of contact.
• Reading the abbreviation instead of the full value. "A pack of RL" has 19 possible answers — the family runs from 0401RL to 1214RL. Choosing the wrong step is choosing the wrong specification.
• Carrying numbers across products. Read the millimetre equivalent from the product page, and request a gauge table from ATTO for any model you need it for.
• Ignoring pack quantity. This group is listed as 20-piece packs, while an RL round liner cartridge in the same needle family offers 10 and 20-piece choices. Packs differ between products in one family — pick by how fast you use them.

Practice material

ATTO's practice range splits into flat practice skins — Silicone Tattoo Practice Skin in roughly 20×15cm and 30×20cm, and an A4 hairstroke silicone skin in 1, 10 and 30-piece options — and shaped models: 3D brow and lip modules, a hand model and a skull model.