Patent ID: 8492074

Claim:
A method of controlling the shape of a plurality of relief dots created in a photosensitive printing blank during a digital platemaking process, said photosensitive printing blank comprising a laser ablatable mask layer disposed directly or indirectly above at least one photocurable layer, the method comprising the steps of: a) laser ablating the laser ablatable mask layer to create an in situ negative in the laser ablatable mask layer; b) applying a barrier membrane to the in situ negative wherein the barrier membrane comprises at least two resins; c) exposing the at least one photocurable layer to actinic radiation through the in situ negative; and d) developing the imaged and exposed photosensitive printing blank to reveal the relief image therein, said relief image comprises the plurality of relief dots; wherein the shape of the relief dots is tailored or altered by altering the type and ratio of the at least two resins, whereby the relief dots have at least one geometric feature selected from a planarity of a top surface of the relief dots, a shoulder angle of the relief dots and an edge sharpness of the relief dots.