Patent ID: 7081331

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a photosensitive printing element comprising the steps of: a) providing a photosensitive printing element on a rotatable cylindrical support, the photosensitive printing element comprising: i) a support layer; ii) a first layer of photocurable material on the support layer, the first layer of photocurable material being pre-cured; iii) at least a second layer of photocurable material deposited on the first layer of pre-cured photocurable material; and iv) a masking layer on top of the at least second layer of photocurable material that allows for the selective polymerization of the at least second layer of photocurable material; b) imaging the at least second layer of photocurable material by ablating the masking layer to create a pattern of a desired image on the surface of the at least second layer of photocurable material; c) exposing the second layer of photocurable material through the masking layer to one or more sources of actinic radiation to crosslink and cure portions of the second layer of photocurable material that are not covered by the masking layer; d) melting or softening uncured portions of the second layer of photocurable material on the imaged and exposed surface of the photosensitive printing element; e) causing contact between the imaged and exposed surface of the photosensitive printing element and at least one roll; and f) rotating the at least one roll against at least a portion of the imaged and exposed surface of the photosensitive printing element to remove non-crosslinked photopolymer that has been melted or softened from the imaged and exposed surface of the photosensitive printing element.