A method for making a photosensitive resin printing plate which comprises
at least (1) the exposure step of forming a latent image in an
aqueous-developable photosensitive resin layer of a printing plate
material by irradiating the printing plate material with a ray of active
light, (2) the development step of forming a relief image from the latent
image by dissolving or dispersing the photosensitive resin layer that
forms the latent image into a developer that contains water as a main
component, and (3) the drying step of removing the developer from the
printing plate having the relief image, the method being characterized in
that a photosensitive resin layer component-dissolved or dispersed
developer produced in the development step is subjected to a reduced
pressure distillation, and is therefore reused as a developer, and a
residue produced by the reduced pressure distillation is solidified.
Furthermore, a photosensitive resin printing plate material developer
processing apparatus for processing a photosensitive resin layer
component-containing developer characterized by comprising an evaporator
that reduces a pressure of the developer, a cooler that recovers a
developer by condensing a developer vapor, and a detachable inner
container provided within the evaporator.A developer produced as a result
of the development of a photosensitive resin printing plate material and,
more particularly, an aqueous-developable photosensitive resin printing
plate material, can be reused without a reduction in the developing speed
nor aggregation of a photosensitive resin layer component.