Method of making photographic element having epoxy overlayer

A process for preparing a photographic element, comprising:

• coating a photographic image layer on a support, which image layer having a photographic emulsion layer,
• forming an image on said photographic image layer by an exposure, processing said image, said processing including developing and fixing,
• drying said photographic image layer so that a water-content of said photographic image layer is between 5.0 and 20.0% by weight,
• coating a radiation-curable composition on a said emulsion layer, curing said composition by an irradiation of ultra-violet ray to make a protective layer,
• wherein said composition consists essentially of at least one prepolymer having at least two epoxy groups in a molecule, at least one of polymerization initiator, and a surfactant,
• said prepolymer being selected from the group consisting of aromatic epoxy prepolymer, alicyclic epoxy prepolymer, and aliphatic epoxy prepolymer, said aromatic epoxy prepolymer being polyglycidyl ethers of polyhydric phenols or alkylene oxide adducts of the polyhydric phenol,
• said alicyclic epoxy prepolymer being selected from the group consisting of polyglycidyl ethers of polyhydric alcohols having at least two alicyclic rings and cyclohexane oxide or cyclopentene oxide-containing compounds obtained by epoxidization of cyclohexene or cyclopentene ring containing compound with an oxidizing agent,
• said aliphatic epoxy prepolymer being selected from the group consisting of polyglycidyl ethers of aliphatic polyhydric alcohols or alkylene oxide adducts of the aliphatic polyhydric alcohols, homopolymers and copolymers of polyglycidyl esters, glycidyl acrylates of glycidyl methacrylates of aliphatic long chain polybasic acids, and said polymerization initiator is a compound represented by the formula:
• [R.sup.1.sub.a R.sup.2.sub.b R.sup.3.sub.c R.sup.4.sub.d Z].sup.+m [MX.sub.n+m ].sup.-m
• wherein cation is onium;
• Z is at least one selected from the group consisting of S, Se, Te, P, As, Sb, Bi, O, a halogen or N=N;
• R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are organic groups which may be either identical or different;
• a, b, c and d are each integer of 0 to 3, and a+b+c+d is equal to the valence of Z;
• M is a metal or a metalloid which is the center atom of the halide complex;
• X is a halogen;
• m is the net charges of the halide complex ion;
• and n is the number of halogen atoms in the halide complex ion;
• and
• said initiator is present in an amount of 0.1 to 15 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of said prepolymer.