Patent ID: 7205091

Claim:
A method of imaging a lithographic printing member, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a lithographic printing member comprising a polymeric substrate, a primer layer disposed thereover, an imaging layer disposed over the primer layer, and a surface layer disposed over the imaging layer, wherein (i) the primer layer comprises a surface-tension modifier dispersed in a polymeric binder and has at least one of (A) an R z value being about 7.5 μm to about 8.5 μm and (B) an R a value being about 550 nm to about 560 nm, and (ii) the surface layer and at least one of the primer layer and the substrate have opposite affinities for at least one of ink and a liquid to which ink will not adhere; (b) exposing the lithographic printing member to imaging radiation in an imagewise pattern, the imaging layer being heated sufficiently to cause separation from and at least partial degradation of the surface layer; and (c) removing at least the surface layer where the lithographic printing member received imaging radiation, thereby creating an imagewise pattern on the lithographic printing member.