How to ...

This is what I usually do. Part of it I came up with by accident and I think part was from another site, so maybe it might be helpful. I make my printouts in Photoshop. What I do is, under properties, I change the resolution. It's usually something like 72 DPI. I change that to 300 or 600. It's been a while since I used prinouts, so I can't remember which I use more frequently because I've used both. However, what your printer can print will be your limiting factor. Because the resolution puts the pixels closer, it automatically makes it smaller. Now, usually I'll actually start the pic at 300 or 600 DPI and then make the pic, rather than make it and shrink it. Since the resolution is higher, I can make it smaller to begin with. I don't like making it too big, because resizing later will screw it up, as you've noticed. So changing resolution is a good first step. Then, I found printing it through Word. Put the picture in Word and resize it. I've found Word makes it huge, probably because of the resolution, but I shrink it back to the size I want it, and it's fine. For example, in Photoshop, I usually make my pictures 5cm (2") x 5cm, and Word makes them 20cm (8"), but then I shrink it back to 5cm. I've never tried printing directly from Photoshop, maybe it works well. I use printouts for my hockey figures rather than the wrestlers, so in that square are all their numbers, nameplates, logos and such, but it should work for something smaller, like a tattoo.

64.235.50.240/pic/Youth-kids-RBK--hockey-jersey-Chicago-Blackhawks--239-HULL-BLACK-53015.jpg

If you look at that pic, I've even used it to print out the NHL logo that's in the V of the collar. It's hard to tell it says NHL on the prinout, but it's still recognizable. Hope that helps.

Oh, and as Kitty Purry said, png is the way to go (I usually leave it as a PSD until I transfer it to Word, then I don't have to worry about losing quality that way.