A shading area having a transmissivity in the range of 0 to 2% is formed
at the center of a clear defect in a wiring pattern of a half tone mask.
Semitransparent areas having a transmissivity in the range of 10 to 25%
are formed, adjacently to shading area, in areas extending from the
inside of the edge of an imaginary pattern having no defect to the
outside of the edge. In this way, in the correction of the defect in the
half tone mask, the working accuracy tolerable margin of the correction
portion of the defect can be made large.