Published 29 October 2026 · Reviewed by Dr Sin Yong
Colour tattoo removal is the staged laser fading of coloured inks, with each colour matched to the wavelength it absorbs. In T2 Laser Tattoo Removal on the DEKA TORO, red and orange are matched to 532 nm, green and blue to 785 nm picosecond, and black to 1064 nm. Yellow and white absorb poorly, and clearance cannot be promised.
Short answerColour tattoo removal works by matching each ink to the wavelength it absorbs, so a coloured tattoo is planned colour by colour. Black and dark blue usually respond most readily, red and orange absorb 532 nm, green and blue suit 785 nm picosecond, and yellow, white and flesh tones are the hardest to clear with any laser.
Colour tattoo removal: why the colour decides the wavelength
Colour tattoo removal rests on one principle: a laser acts on an ink when the ink absorbs that laser's light, and not otherwise. Each colour absorbs some wavelengths and reflects others, which is why it looks the colour it does. Black absorbs across a wide range. Red reflects red light and absorbs green light. Green reflects green light and absorbs red and near-infrared light. So a wavelength that acts well on black can pass through a green ink with little effect, and the same is true the other way round.
Illustrative image — not a patient.
Once the light is absorbed, very short pulses fracture the ink particles, and the immune system clears the fragments gradually between visits. The pulse can be in the nanosecond range, as in a Q-switched laser, or in the picosecond range, which is shorter and less thermal. Both are used for tattoos, and the difference is set out on pico vs Q-switched laser. Neither pulse length rescues a colour that does not absorb the wavelength.
That is the reason T2 Laser Tattoo Removal is built on a platform with three emissions. On the DEKA TORO, Dr Sin Yong matches each ink in the tattoo to the emission that suits it, with settings chosen for your skin type and healing reviewed before each next visit. Matching the wavelength to the colour is not a promise about speed or complete removal; it is the condition for the laser to act on that ink at all. The general mechanism and the staged plan are on the laser tattoo removal page.
Red, green, blue, yellow and white ink: colour by colour on the DEKA TORO
The DEKA TORO is a Q-switched Nd:YAG system made by DEKA in Italy and cleared by the US FDA under 510(k) K240752. The clearance names the ink colours for each emission: 1064 nm nanosecond for dark inks such as black, blue and brown; 532 nm nanosecond for light inks such as red, orange, purple, tan, sky blue and green; and 785 nm picosecond for green and blue inks in Fitzpatrick skin types II to IV. The table sets out how that translates into a plan.
Ink colour
Emission generally matched
How it tends to respond
What is checked first
Black, dark blue, dark brown
1064 nm nanosecond
Usually respond most readily; clearance still cannot be promised
Density, depth and layering
Red, orange, purple
532 nm nanosecond
Usually absorb the wavelength well
Any raised, itchy or scaly red area, examined as a possible ink allergy
Green, mid and bright blue
785 nm picosecond
More stubborn than black; the wavelength choice matters
Skin type, as the 785 nm clearance for this use covers Fitzpatrick II to IV
Sky blue, turquoise, light green
532 nm or 785 nm, chosen at evaluation
Variable; some shades resist both
Which emission the shade responds to, often with a test area
Yellow
Poorly absorbed by most wavelengths
Among the hardest to clear
Whether lightening is a realistic aim
White, flesh tone, pastel shades
Poorly absorbed; assessed case by case
Can turn grey or darker under laser
A test area before anything more
Two tattoos of the same colour can still need different plans. Professional ink is dense and even, amateur ink is often sparse and shallow, and a shade an artist mixed from several pigments can behave like none of them. Which emission is used for each ink, at what energy and with which spot, is decided at the evaluation and revisited at each review.
“Red ink, green ink and white ink are three different problems. I match the wavelength to each colour, and I tell you at the start which colours I expect to resist.”
Dr Sin YongOn colour tattoo removal
Red ink removal: allergy and raised red tattoos
Red ink removal starts with a question about the tattoo itself: has the red part ever been raised, itchy, scaly or lumpy? Red pigments cause more allergic reactions than any other tattoo colour, particularly those made with mercury sulphide (cinnabar), and a reaction can appear long after the tattoo was done. A red area that is raised or itchy while the rest of the tattoo is flat is not treated as an ordinary ink to be removed. It is examined first, as a skin problem.
The reason is that laser fractures the ink and releases it into the surrounding tissue for the immune system to clear. In skin that is already allergic to the pigment, that release can provoke a reaction, usually local itching and swelling and, rarely, something more widespread. Granulomatous lumps and lichen planus-like patches confined to the red areas are other reactions seen in tattoos, and they change what is reasonable. Some need treatment as a skin condition before, or instead of, any removal.
A red tattoo with no history of reaction is usually planned at 532 nm like other light inks. If you have reacted to a tattoo ink before, or to a red tattoo in particular, say so at the evaluation. Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat with difficulty breathing after any treatment is an emergency, and the complication care page sets out when to seek urgent help.
Yellow, white and flesh-tone ink removal: the colours that resist
Yellow, white and flesh-tone ink removal is the hardest part of colour tattoo removal, and it is better to know that before starting than after. Yellow reflects most visible light and absorbs little of the wavelengths tattoo lasers emit, so the ink takes up little energy. White ink is usually titanium dioxide, which absorbs poorly and, like some cosmetic pigments, can turn grey or darker under laser. Flesh tones, pastels and highlights are often mixed with white for the same reason.
That does not always mean nothing can be done. Where white or a pale tone is a highlight inside a darker design, the plan may focus on the colours that respond and accept that the pale areas will lighten less. Where a pale ink is the main colour, a small test area is treated and reviewed first, because darkening would leave a more visible mark than the original. Sometimes the evaluation concludes that laser is not the right route, and that fading the rest of the design for a cover-up, done by a tattoo artist, is the more realistic aim.
Brown and flesh-tone pigments in cosmetic tattoos raise the same issue through iron oxide, which can darken before it fades. Brows, eyeliner and lip blush are covered on the eyebrow embroidery removal page.
Multicoloured and layered tattoos: planned colour by colour
A multicoloured tattoo is planned colour by colour, not as one tattoo. At the evaluation, Dr Sin Yong maps which inks are present and where, matches each to an emission, and notes which are likely to respond and which are likely to resist. At a visit, more than one wavelength may be used across the design, each on its own colour, and the skin's response decides how much is done. The plan states plainly when some colours are expected to lighten rather than clear.
Layered and cover-up tattoos add depth to the problem. A cover-up often places dense dark ink over an older design, and the older pigments sit at different depths. As the top layer lightens, colours underneath can reappear and need a different emission. Heavy reworking can also leave scarring in the skin, which changes how ink and skin behave and is not undone by laser; the tattoo removal scarring page covers that.
Because the colours respond at different paces, the tattoo can look patchy partway through, with black fading ahead of green, or a red outline outlasting a shaded centre. That is expected, and it is judged at review rather than in the mirror. Healing is checked before each next visit, and no number of visits is fixed in advance. What sets the fee when several wavelengths are needed is on tattoo removal cost factors.
Skin type and colour tattoo removal
Skin type changes how colour tattoo removal is planned, because the laser has to pass through the melanin in the epidermis to reach the ink. Shorter wavelengths such as 532 nm are absorbed strongly by melanin, so in medium and darker skin, Fitzpatrick III to V, some of the energy aimed at a red ink is taken up by the skin above it. The 1064 nm wavelength is absorbed less by melanin, which is why it is favoured in darker skin where the ink colour allows.
The risk in medium and darker skin is that the treated area darkens after healing, known as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or lightens, which can be slow to recover. So the energy is set with the skin in mind, a test area is often treated first, and sun protection on healing skin is part of the plan. The 785 nm picosecond clearance for green and blue covers Fitzpatrick II to IV, and in darker skin that is weighed when green or blue ink is planned. A fresh tan raises the same risks and is a reason to wait. The laser for dark skin page explains these choices further, and every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong after his evaluation on Orchard Road, Singapore.
Your next step
1. MessageWhatsApp +65 8023 7170 with what is bothering you. A reply comes from the clinic, not a bot.
2. AssessmentDr Sin Yong examines you himself on Orchard Road, with ultrasound where earlier filler is involved.
3. A plan in writingWhat he would do, what he would not, the fee factors, and the option of no treatment.
Every treatment is performed by Dr Sin Yong personally. Singapore Medical Council registered · invited to share his clinical expertise internationally for CLASSYS, DEKA, Fotona, Hironic and Ilooda.
Bring a daylight photo of the tattoo, and mention any part of it that has ever been raised, itchy or lumpy. How consultations work.
Many can be faded, colour by colour. Each ink absorbs a different wavelength, so on the DEKA TORO red and orange are matched to 532 nm, green and blue to 785 nm picosecond, and dark inks to 1064 nm. Yellow, white and flesh tones absorb poorly. Treatment is staged with healing reviewed each time, and complete clearance cannot be promised for any colour.
Usually, yes. Black absorbs across a wide range of wavelengths and tends to respond most readily. Coloured inks each need a matching wavelength, and some, such as green, yellow and white, resist even then. A multicoloured tattoo therefore often needs more than one wavelength and a longer staged plan, and some colours may lighten rather than clear.
Green ink reflects green light and absorbs red and near-infrared light, so wavelengths that work on black or red pass through it with little effect. On the DEKA TORO, green and blue are matched to the 785 nm picosecond emission, whose FDA clearance for this use covers Fitzpatrick II to IV. Green remains more stubborn than black, and clearance cannot be promised.
They are the hardest colours to remove. Yellow absorbs little of the wavelengths tattoo lasers use, and white is usually titanium dioxide, which can turn grey or darker under laser. A test area is treated first. Sometimes the plan focuses on the colours that do respond, or on fading for a cover-up by a tattoo artist, rather than trying to clear pale ink.
Red pigments cause more tattoo allergies than other colours, and a reaction can appear long after the tattoo was done. A raised, itchy, scaly or lumpy red area is examined as a skin problem before any removal, because laser releases the pigment and can provoke a reaction in skin that is already allergic to it. Some reactions need treatment first.
No laser removes every colour. Picosecond and nanosecond describe pulse length; whether a colour responds depends on the wavelength. On the DEKA TORO the picosecond emission is at 785 nm, for green and blue, and the 532 nm and 1064 nm nanosecond emissions cover red, orange, purple and dark inks. Yellow and white resist most lasers.
References
DEKA TORO 510(k) premarket notification K240752 (indications for use by wavelength). US Food and Drug Administration 510(k) database, 2024. source
About this page: written and medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong, MBBS (NUS), MRCS (Edinburgh) · Last reviewed 29 October 2026 · Illustrative images only, not patients · Editorial policy
