Hi there, I'll try to explain this as best I can, but I'm sure I'm going to butcher it.

I'm trying to take a path (shape) in Inkscape, place a pattern behind it (vector file) and then cut the pattern file so that it is on the inside of the path (shape). I've tried the difference tool to no avail. I've watched a few tutorials online about the difference tool and nothing seems to work. It doesn't seem to ever work the way I would think it would. I have attached an image to hopefully explain what I mean. number 1 and 2 are the path and the pattern, number 3 is them overlayed and number 4 is the desired result... I did this in gimp and it was very simple, but I can't seem to wrap my head around it in inkscape.

Thanks

Have you done: put the pattern to a lower layer, PgDn / End, and the circle to a higher layer PgUp/Home ?
Have you put both items over one another ?
Have you selected them both ? (ctrl-A, if these are the only items in your document.)
Menu: Object, Clip Set ?

Maybe upload/enclose the *.svg file here in a reply.

Are those waves ONE object/group ?

Or if there is something wishywashy with your wave/vector-file, export it to PNG-file, shift-ctrl-E, and try using that PNG-file.

Maybe this?

Depending on how that pattern is created, or more specifically what it's made of, there might be an alternative to clipping, if clipping won't work for some reason. I would need to see the pattern in the SVG file, to find out for sure.

tylerdurden wrote:Maybe this?

Yes! This is exactly what I needed. I apprecite all you guys for taking the time to respond!!!

Thanks again.