A lithographic printing plate precursor is disclosed including on a support a coating comprising (i) a photopolymerisable layer including a polymerisable compound, a first infrared absorbing dye including at least one electron withdrawing substituent and a photoinitiator; and (ii) a top layer provided above the photopolymerisable layer which includes a second infrared absorbing compound which includes a thermocleavable group which transforms into a group which is a stronger electron-donor upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation, and is capable of forming a print-out image upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation.

Disclosed is a infrared radiation sensitive positive-working imageable element. The imageable element comprises: (a) a substrate, (b) an inner coating covering the substrate, and (c) an outer coating covering the inner coating. The inner coating comprises a repeating unit derived from a maleimide monomer and a (meth)acrylamide monomer, and a polymer hinder P that is soluble in an alkaline developing solution; and the outer coating comprises an infrared radiation absorbing compound and a polymer binder Q which is different from that in the inner coating. The imageable element is designed such that same is not only sensitive to radiation with a maximum wavelength of 700-1200 nm, but also has a good resistance to chemical solvents when used as a lithographic printing plate precursor, and same is not easily corroded and dissolved by printing chemicals during use, thus facilitating the prolonging of the service life of a lithographic printing plate.

A structure that forms a visual representation may include a first outer layer, a second outer layer, and an interlayer being disposed between the first outer layer and the second outer layer. The interlayer may have a first side adjacent to the first outer layer and a second side adjacent to the second outer layer. The interlayer includes a plurality of cuts extending from the first side of the interlayer towards the second side of the interlayer. Each of the plurality of cuts may have an angle with respect to a plane formed by a surface of the first side of the interlayer. Each angle for at least a portion of the plurality of cuts is based on one or more pixel values of at least one image that forms the basis of the visual representation.

A lithographic printing plate precursor is disclosed including a support and a coating comprising (i) a photopolymerisable layer including a polymerisable compound and a photoinitiator, and a toplayer provided above the photopolymerisable layer; characterized in that the toplayer has a thickness comprised between 0.1 g/m.sup.2 and 1.75 g/m.sup.2 and includes an infrared absorbing compound which includes a thermocleavable group which transforms into a group which is a stronger electrondonor upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation, and is capable of forming a printout image upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation.

Provided is a lithographic printing plate precursor having a support and an image-recording layer on the support, in which the image-recording layer contains an infrared absorber, a polymerization initiator, and a polymer A, a weight-average molecular weight of the polymer A is more than 15,000 and 150,000 or less, and an ethylenically unsaturated bond valence of the polymer A is 3.0 mmol/g or more.

Provided is a lithographic printing plate precursor having an aluminum support and an image-recording layer on the aluminum support, in which the image-recording layer contains an infrared absorber, a polymerization initiator, a polymerizable compound, and an addition polymerization-type resin having a dispersible group, and in a case where a capacitance Cp of the lithographic printing plate precursor is set to satisfy Cp (t)/Cp (20 seconds)=0.95, t satisfies t<12 seconds or the capacitance Cp of the lithographic printing plate precursor satisfies Cp (0 seconds)>400 nF. Also provided are a method for preparing lithographic printing plate or a lithographic printing method using the lithographic printing plate precursor. The capacitance Cp of the lithographic printing plate precursor is measured by bringing at least a measurement portion of the image-recording layer into contact with a 2% by mass aqueous sodium chloride solution at 25° C.

Provided is an on-press development type lithographic printing plate precursor having an aluminum support and an image-recording layer on the aluminum support, in which the image-recording layer contains an infrared-absorbing polymethine colorant having HOMO of −5.2 eV or less, a polymerization initiator, and a polymerizable compound having 7 or more functional groups and contains or does not contain a polymer having a molecular weight 10,000 or more, and in a case where the image-recording layer contains the polymer having a molecular weight of 10,000 or more, a ratio Wp/Wm of a content Wp of the polymer having a molecular weight of 10,000 or more to a content Wm of the polymerizable compound having 7 or more functional groups is 1.00 or less. Also provided are a method for preparing a lithographic printing plate and a lithographic printing method using the lithographic printing plate precursor.

A lithographic printing plate precursor is disclosed including a support and a coating comprising (i) a photopolymerisable layer including a polymerisable compound and an optionally substituted trihaloalkyl sulfone photoinitiator, and (ii) a toplayer provided above the photopolymerisable layer; characterized in that the toplayer includes an infrared absorbing dye capable of forming a print-out image upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation.

A lithographic printing plate precursor is disclosed including a support and a coating comprising (i) a photopolymerisable layer including a polymerisable compound, a borate compound and/or a photoinitiator and (ii) a toplayer provided above the photopolymerisable layer; characterized in that the toplayer has a thickness comprised between 0.1 g/m2 and 1.75 g/m2 and includes an infrared absorbing compound which includes a thermocleavable group which transforms into a group which is a stronger electron-donor upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation, and is capable of forming a print-out image upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation.

A lithographic printing plate precursor is disclosed including a support and a coating comprising (i) a photopolymerisable layer including a polymerisable compound and a photoinitiator, and a toplayer provided above the photopolymerisable layer; characterized in that the toplayer has a thickness comprised between 0.1 g/m.sup.2 and 1.75 g/m.sup.2 and includes an infrared absorbing compound which includes a thermocleavable group which transforms into a group which is a stronger electrondonor upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation, and is capable of forming a printout image upon exposure to heat and/or IR radiation.