Lithographic plates and production process therefor

A process for the production of lithographic plates comprising the steps of:

• (a) spreading over a rigid substrate a layer of a coating polymer selected from the group consisting of:
• (i) ##STR13## wherein X is aliphatic, aromatic, or aralkyl of a type which permits the polyimide resulting from ring-closure to be preferentially ink-receptive, and the polymer before ring-closure to be water or dilute aqueous alkaline-soluble;
• (ii) ##STR14## wherein X is aliphatic, aromatic, alkyl substituted aromatic, chlorine substituted aromatic, alkoxy substituted aromatic, alicyclic, or aralykyl hydrocarbon residue from 1 to 20 C atoms wherein R is the residue of a comonomer selected from the group of 2 to 12 C atom olefins, 4 to 6 atom 1-4 dienes, styrene, or hydrocarbon or halogen substituted styrenes, vinyl ethers, or vinyl halides;
• (iii) polymers or copolymers of the vinyl or acrylic type containing mer units bearing a pendant group ##STR15## wherein X is alkyl or aryl
• Y is an anion,
• a, b, c are alkyl, aralkyl or a and
• b form a morpholine ring with the nitrogen
• in sufficient proportion to make the polymer water soluble or highly water-swellable and non-adherent to said substrate when in the water-swollen state;
• (iv) copolymers of a vinyl or acrylic monomer, whose homopolymer is water-insoluble and ink preferring, with vinylpyrrolidone in such proportion that the copolymer contains sufficient pyrrolidone residues to make it water-swellable and non-adherent to said substrate when water-swollen;
• said coating polymer being hydrophilic and being curable to a hydrophobic state,
• (b) exposing said coated substrate to a source of infrared radiation in a predetermined pattern to cause said polymer coating to convert said polymer coating to a hydrophobic, ink-receptive state, in which its aqueous contact angle is greater than 55 degrees, and
• (c) Removing unexposed portions of said polymer coating by washing said plate with water or a neutral or alkaline aqueous solution.