I'm drawing a map that we eventually want to distribute as a PDF. I'm shading in various areas of the map using hatch patterns and line patterns and the like. To do this, I've been making the patterns, then using masks to create the shaded areas. Works fine.

Except that masks don't export to PDF correctly (they show the entirety of the masked element).

I'm finding several bug reports on this going back a few years, and there's various replies that seem to indicate parts have been fixed but there's also seemingly plenty of evidence that the problem is as it always was.

Are there any known workarounds for this? Or so I simply need to stop using masks altogether and find a different method?

(BTW, I love Inkscape and really happy to discover these forums...I'll probably be here way too often...)

So, here's what I've come up with:

- create hatch pattern so that it covers the entire map area
- convert all strokes to objects
- create the mast areas and then union them into one object
- use the pathfinder tools to INTERSECTION only the parts on want

The only drawback is that I need to redo this every time I want to edit things, so I need to keep a version of the 'mask' areas as a hidden layer and duplicate whenever I need to update things. Not ideal, but seems like a workaround for now. Here's hoping this can be fixed in the next couple of releases!

Welcome inkler!

I saw your message yesterday, but don't know enough about masks or PDF exports, to offer any helpful comments. I am surprised that PDF handles masks so poorly, but I guess it's the SVG to PDF conversion where the problem occurs? Anyway, I'm glad you came up with a semi-successful alternative. And this topic should prove helpful for others who might have potential future issues