Image-recording materials and image-recording carried out using these

Abstract

A resist film comprises a dimensionally stable base (B), which is transparent to actinic light in the wavelength range from 300 to 420 nm, and a mask-forming layer (ML) which is sensitive to heat radiation and contains a thermochromic system which, when irradiated with an IR laser having a wavelength greater than 1.00 .mu.m, undergoes an irreversible change in its absorption spectrum in the wavelength range from 300 to 420 nm so that the optical density of the mask-forming layer (ML) in this wavelength range changes by not less than 1.3 units. The base of the resist film can also be applied onto the photosensitive relief-forming layer (RL) of a recording material to give a multilayer image-recording material. Imagewise irradiation with heat, for example using an IR laser, produces, in the mask-forming layer (ML) of the resist film, a UV photomask which is very useful for exposing photosensitive recording materials.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.