Process for producing a heat-developable photosensitive material

A process for preparing a heat-developable photosensitive material material including a step of forming a photosensitive layer on a base, wherein said photosensitive layer is made of a photosensitive composition comprising (a) an oxidation-reduction image forming a component which comprises a reducible organic silver salt and a reducing agent, (b) a photosensitive silver halide, and (c) a binder, wherein the improvement comprises:

• forming a first mixture which consists essentially of (1) 0.5 to 50 wt. % of (d) a silver salt of a substituted or unsubstituted organic fatty acid having at least 5 carbon atoms, (2) 0.5 to 20 grams, per gram of said silver salt (d), of an organic polymer effective to prevent irregular growth and aggregation of said silver halide (b), and (3) the balance is essentially a first organic solvent selected from alcohols, ketones, and mixtures thereof with other solvents, said silver salt (d) being insoluble or sightly soluble in said first organic solvent, and said silver salt being dispersed or suspended in said first organic solvent;
• forming a second mixture consisting essentially of an organic or inorganic halogen compound selected from the group consisting of hydrogen halides, metal halides, halogen-containing metal complexes, organic N-halogen compounds, organic C-halogeno compounds, and onium halides, and the balance is essentially a second organic solvent, said halogen compound being dispersed or dissolved in said second organic solvent, the amount of said halogen compound being in the range of 1 to 3 mols per mol of said silver salt;
• then mixing together said first and second mixtures to form a reaction mixture;
• then maintaining said reaction mixture under conditions effective to cause the formation of crystals of said silver halide (b) therein and completely convert said silver salt (d) into said silver halide (b);
• and
• then combining said silver halide (b) with said image-forming component (a) and said binder (c) to form said photosensitive composition for use in said photosensitive layer.