Patent ID: 7632625

Claim:
A method of producing a relief image printing element comprising: providing a photosensitive printing element, said photosensitive printing element comprising a photosensitive layer disposed on a base substrate, wherein a desired image is creatable in a surface of said photosensitive layer by selectively curing said surface to create cured and uncured areas in said surface of said photosensitive layer; selectively pre-exposing portions of said surface of said photosensitive layer with actinic radiation at a selected first intensity of a radiation source to quench dissolved oxygen in the selectively pre-exposed portions of the photosensitive layer prior to imagewise exposure wherein the selected first intensity is not an intensity that cures the photosensitive layer; selectively imagewise exposing said surface of said photosensitive layer with actinic radiation at a selected second intensity of said radiation source to create cured and uncured areas; and selectively removing uncured portions of the photosensitive layer to reveal the relief image; whereby the selective pre-exposure of the photosensitive layer provides increased definition of the relief image surface.