Printing of mask

Still not quite at a point where I can confidently send my first project to get boards made. But I’m looking at the various layers that I can print, giving me a sense of what the physical board will look like. Selecting the “F. Mask” to be printed, The output appears to be not the mask, butt rather the places where the mask isn’t. The print preview looks like all of the solder pads that will be visible in holes in the mask. Is that what I’m seeing?

That’s precisely how the solder mask layers are defined. They are used to cause the mask to be removed where it is not wanted, e.g. over pads.

I’m sure this is explained in the documentation.

Thank you for your assistance.

View - 3D Viewer is not enough to find how board will look like?

If you want to know more details, read How does solder mask layer work?.