Method for making a lithographic printing plate

Abstract

A method for making a lithographic printing plate from an imaging material comprising a ceramic oxide or an oxidic ceramic is disclosed, wherein a lithographic image is created by increasing the contact angle for water of the ceramic oxide or oxidic ceramic, characterized in that an oxygen vacancy is introduced in the ceramic oxide or oxidic ceramic by a step selected from the group consisting of exposing the imaging material to ultraviolet radiation having a wavelength between 200 and 400 nm; and heating the imaging material under low partial oxygen pressure or in a reducing atmosphere. The plate obtained can be used as a printing master for lithographic printing. After the print job, the lithographic image can be erased by heating the ceramic oxide or oxidic ceramic in an oxidizing atmosphere and the erased imaging material thus obtained can then be reused in a next cycle of imaging and printing.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.