Patent ID: 8652761

Claim:
A method of thermally developing a photocurable printing blank to produce a relief pattern comprising a plurality of printing dots, wherein the photocurable printing blank comprises a backing layer having at least one photocurable layer disposed thereon and a laser ablatable mask layer disposed on top of the at least one photocurable layer, the method comprising the step of: a) imaging the at least one photocurable layer by selectively ablating the laser ablatable mask layer to create an image on the surface of the at least one photocurable layer; b) laminating an oxygen barrier membrane to a top of the laser ablated mask layer; c) exposing the printing blank to actinic radiation through the oxygen barrier membrane and laser ablatable mask layer to one or more sources of actinic radiation to selectively crosslink and cure portions of the at least one photocurable layer, wherein the at least one photocurable layer is crosslinked and cured in the portions not covered by the mask layer, thereby creating the relief pattern; d) removing the oxygen barrier membrane from the top of the laser ablated mask layer; and e) thermally developing the photocurable printing blank to remove the laser ablated mask layer and uncured portions of the at least one photocurable layer and reveal the relief pattern.