Context.clipPreserve

Establishes a new clip region by intersecting the current clip region with the current path as it would be filled by [cairo.context.Context.fill] and according to the current fill rule (see [cairo.context.Context.setFillRule]).

Unlike [cairo.context.Context.clip], [cairo.context.Context.clipPreserve] preserves the path within the cairo context.

The current clip region affects all drawing operations by effectively masking out any changes to the surface that are outside the current clip region.

Calling [cairo.context.Context.clipPreserve] can only make the clip region smaller, never larger. But the current clip is part of the graphics state, so a temporary restriction of the clip region can be achieved by calling [cairo.context.Context.clipPreserve] within a [cairo.context.Context.save]/[cairo.context.Context.restore] pair. The only other means of increasing the size of the clip region is [cairo.context.Context.resetClip].