All tattoos will raise the skin to some level. How far it raises is a small indication of how deep the needle went.
The fact that you are breaking the flesh and introducing a foreign material causes scar tissue to form. This is why even a removed tattoo will have a colorless after image until several treatments have gone by.
My first 2 tattoos were VERY heavy handed and after the initial swelling went down i still feel the tattoo without looking. It is neat to touch though XD