Patent ID: 7318994

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a compressible flexographic printing plate comprising the steps of: a) securing a photographic negative to a glass platen, wherein the photographic negative has opaque areas corresponding to a reverse of a desired relief image; b) covering the photographic negative with a transparent cover sheet; c) creating a photocurable system on the cover sheet by casting at least one photocurable layer on the cover sheet and then casting a photocurable compressible layer on top of at least one photocurable layer; d) exposing the photocurable system to actinic radiation through the photocurable compressible layer to cure the photocurable compressible layer and a portion of the at least one photocurable layer to create a cured floor in the first photocurable layer; e) exposing the photocurable system to actinic radiation through the photographic negative to form the relief image in the at least one photocurable layer; and f) washing away uncured portions to reveal the relief image in the compressible printing plate.