Ablatable elements for making flexographic printing plates

A method of printing an ink, comprising:

• forming a relief image in a laser-ablatable element comprising a laser-ablatable layer in an imagable element, the laser-ablatable layer having a thickness of from about 300 μm to about 4000 μm and comprising a film-forming material, wherein said film-forming material is a laser-ablatable material or said film-forming material has dispersed therein a laser-ablatable material, said laser-ablatable material being a polymeric material that when heated to 300° C. at a rate of 10° C./minute, loses at least 60% of its mass to form at least one predominant low molecular weight product,
• by imagewise directly ablating said laser-ablatable layer with a laser at an energy of at least 1 J/cm2 to provide a relief image in the element that has a relief depth of at least 100 μm,
• inking the relief image in the element, and
• transferring the ink from the relief image to a substrate.