JP2003202647A - Silver halide color photographic sensitive material and image forming method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a silver halide color photographic sensitive material having improved reproducibility of a character image, reducing unevenness in scanning, excellent in print stability and less liable to a density change due to a change of the processing time from exposure to development even when exposed with digital aligners different from each other in a light source for exposure, an exposure system, etc., and to provide an image forming method therefor. <P>SOLUTION: In the silver halide color photographic sensitive material having on a support at least one photosensitive silver halide-containing yellow image forming layer, at least one photosensitive silver halide-containing magenta image forming layer and at least one photosensitive silver halide-containing cyan image forming layer, the effective gradation region (VE) of a color image obtained by color development after exposure for 10<SP>-10</SP>-10<SP>-3</SP>sec exposure time per pixel is 0.65-0.84 in each color image forming layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material which is exposed and developed based on digital information to produce a color print, and an image forming method thereof.
In particular, even when exposed with various digital exposure devices with different exposure light sources, exposure methods, etc., the reproducibility of character images is improved, and it is possible to stably reproduce prints with reduced uneven scanning of the scene image. The present invention relates to a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material capable of obtaining a stable print with little change in density even if the processing time from exposure to development changes, and an image forming method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the opportunities for handling images as digital data have been rapidly increasing along with the improvement of computer computing power and the progress of network technology. Image information taken with a digital camera, or image information digitalized from film or print using a scanner, etc. should be edited and processed on a computer, and data such as characters and illustrations should be added. Is relatively easy to do. Examples of hard copy materials for producing hard copies based on such digitized image information include sublimation type thermal transfer prints, fusion type thermal transfer prints, inkjet prints, electrostatic transfer type prints, thermo-autochrome prints, halogens. Examples thereof include silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials. Among them, silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials (hereinafter also simply referred to as light-sensitive materials) have high sensitivity, excellent gradation and image storability. It has excellent properties compared to other print materials, such as excellent print quality and low cost, so it is widely used today for producing high quality hard copy. There is.

Since image information converted into digital data can be edited and processed on a computer relatively easily,
For example, there are more opportunities to handle images in which images based on photo data such as people, landscapes, and still life (hereinafter referred to as “scene images”) and character images (especially thin and small black character images) are mixed. ing. Therefore, in image output based on digital data, it is necessary to simultaneously satisfy the two requirements of reproducing a scene image more naturally and a character image without blurring.

Many types of digital exposure apparatuses are currently on the market as an exposure apparatus that performs exposure based on image information converted into digital data, and many new digital exposure apparatuses have been studied in combination with advances in exposure light sources and control devices. Being developed. Among these digital exposure apparatuses, an apparatus using a sharp light source wavelength distribution such as a laser or an LED as an exposure light source is becoming mainstream. However, lasers and L mounted on various digital exposure devices
The types of EDs are not unified, and the exposure wavelength is often different for each exposure apparatus. Further, even if the same exposure light source is used, there are many cases in which the exposure beam overlap ratio, the exposure time interval with an adjacent pixel, the exposure time per pixel, the exposure intensity, and the like are different. for that reason,
When the exposure device is different, a phenomenon in which reproduced print quality varies is likely to occur, and improvement thereof has been desired.

Further, among the digital exposure methods, a scanning exposure method using a light beam is known as one of the exposure methods which is particularly often used. As one of means for achieving high speed in this system, a system using a plurality of exposure light sources of the same color in combination (hereinafter referred to as "array exposure system") is known. However, when the array exposure method is used, compared to the exposure method using a single light source, there is a phenomenon that the work of canceling the exposure stripes is more troublesome, and improvement thereof has been desired. In general, the array block exposes a plurality of pixels at one time. Therefore, adjacent pixels may be simultaneously exposed in the array block or may be exposed at different timings while the photosensitive material is being conveyed or the exposure head is being moved.
Therefore, when the exposure time interval from the adjacent pixel is different, a photosensitive material having a small density change and stable characteristics has been demanded to facilitate the work of canceling the exposure stripe.

Further, the exposure time per pixel is 10
^It is considered that the latent image forming efficiency and the stability of the latent image formed are changed in the exposure performed in an extremely short time of ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds, and the time from the exposure to the development is changed. In this case, there is a phenomenon that the reproduced density tends to fluctuate (so-called latent image fluctuation), and improvement thereof has been desired.

Although such a problem can be alleviated by optimizing the photosensitive material for each exposure apparatus or each use environment, there are many types of digital exposure apparatuses on the market, and the number of them will increase in the future. It is expected to continue and it is not a realistic response. Under such circumstances, no matter what exposure device is used or the operating environment changes, the character outline is sharp and the blurring is small, and the light and shade lines of the image due to scanning exposure are inconspicuous and beautiful. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material capable of obtaining a print and a method for forming the image have been desired.

As a method for improving the print image quality with respect to each of the problems described above, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-15884.
No. 7 discloses a method of controlling the average value of point gamma in a constant density range and its fluctuation range. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-36247 discloses a method of defining the relationship between the instantaneous contrast and the exposure amount. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-171237 discloses a method in which the maximum gamma and the fill-in Dmax density within a fixed exposure range are set to a fixed value or more. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-
321730 discloses a method of suppressing the inmax density decrease rate of each color image forming layer to a certain value or less in the exposure range of 1000 nanoseconds to 0.5 seconds in order to improve the image quality in a wide range of exposure time. However, all of these methods focus on improving print quality,
No mention is made of the stability when the time from exposure to development changes.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention relates to a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material which is exposed and developed based on digital information to produce a color print, and an image forming method thereof, and in particular, an exposure light source and an exposure system. Even when exposed with various digital exposure devices with different characteristics, the reproducibility of the character image is improved and a print with reduced uneven scanning of the scene image can be stably reproduced. Furthermore, the processing time from exposure to development The present invention provides a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material capable of obtaining a stable print with little change in density even when the change in the image and its image forming method.

[0010]

The above object of the present invention has been achieved by the following constitution.

1. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
^-Effective gradation area (VE) of color image obtained by color development processing after exposure with exposure time of ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds
Is in the range of 0.65 or more and 0.84 or less in each color image forming layer.

2. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
The VE value of the color image forming layer that maximizes the effective gradation area (VE) of the color image obtained by the color development processing after the exposure for ¹⁰ seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds The difference (ΔVE) from the VE value of the color image forming layer is 0 or more and 0.08 or less.

3. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
The VE value of the color image forming layer that maximizes the effective gradation area (VE) of the color image obtained by the color development processing after the exposure for ¹⁰ seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds 2. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material as described in 1 above, wherein the difference (ΔVE) from the VE value of the color image forming layer is 0 or more and 0.08 or less.

4. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
The maximum point gamma (p of the color image obtained by color development processing after exposure for an exposure time of ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds) (p
-Γ (max)) is 3.6 or more and 5.0 or less for each color image forming layer, and a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material.

5. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
The maximum point gamma (p of the color image obtained by color development processing after exposure for an exposure time of ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds) (p
P-γ of the color image forming layer that maximizes −γ (max)
(Max) value and p-γ (m
ax) value (Δp−γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.6
A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material characterized by the following.

6. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
The maximum point gamma (p of the color image obtained by color development processing after exposure for an exposure time of ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds) (p
P-γ of the color image forming layer that maximizes −γ (max)
(Max) value and p-γ (m
ax) value (Δp−γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.6
5. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material as described in the above item 4, characterized in that:

7. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
Each color image-forming layer obtained by color development processing after exposure with an exposure time of ^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less has the above formula 1
A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material characterized by satisfying the conditions of.

8. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
VE / p-γ (max) of the color image obtained by color development processing after exposure for an exposure time of ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds
VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that maximizes, and VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that minimizes
The difference from the value (ΔVE / p-γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.0
A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material characterized by being 3 or less.

VE has an exposure time of 1 per pixel.
After exposure for 0 to ¹⁰ seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds, the effective gradation area in the case of color development processing is expressed as p-γ (ma
x) is the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds or more 10
^-It represents the maximum point gamma when color development processing is performed after exposure so that it is ³ seconds or less.

9. On the support, a yellow image forming layer containing a photosensitive silver halide, a magenta image forming layer,
In a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one cyan image forming layer, each pixel has 10
VE / p-γ (max) of the color image obtained by color development processing after exposure for an exposure time of ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds
VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that maximizes, and VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that minimizes
The difference from the value (ΔVE / p-γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.0
9. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material as described in the above item 8, which is 3 or less.

10. 11. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to any one of items 1 to 10 is exposed for an exposure time of 10 ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds per pixel, and then color development processing is performed. And an image forming method.

The present invention will be described in detail below. The first invention is that the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3.
The effective gradation region (VE) of the color image obtained by performing color development processing after exposure so as to be less than or equal to 2 seconds is 0.65 or more and 0.84 or less in each color image forming layer. .

In general, when the image information is digitized and treated, it is common to divide the original image into fine grids and digitize the density information for each grid. In the present invention, the minimum unit when the original image is divided into squares and handled is one pixel.
Therefore, the exposure time per pixel can be considered as the time for controlling the intensity of the light beam or the irradiation time based on the digital data for one pixel.

The effective gradation area (VE) in the present invention means that the value of the point gamma at the time of gray scale output is 1.
It is defined as an exposure amount region of 0 or more. As a result of intensive studies by the present inventors, this exposure region has a great influence on print image quality during digital exposure, and in particular, when the processing time from exposure to development changes, blurring of a character image and scanning exposure stripes occur. It has been found that the effect on the ease of launching is large.

The point gamma referred to in the present invention is described in T.W. H. James edition “The Theory
of the Photographic Proce
ss ”, 4th edition, p. 502, point gamma = dD / dLogE (D is the density, E is the exposure amount) and is defined from the vertical axis-density D, the horizontal axis-exposure amount. Represents a differential value of an arbitrary point on the characteristic curve (D-LogE curve).

In the present invention, by satisfying the requirements specified in the present invention under the exposure condition that the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less, the intended effect of the present invention can be obtained. Although it can be obtained, the following evaluation methods can be preferably used in order to further clarify the effect of the present invention.

That is, a patch of 1 cm square was exposed on the photosensitive material while changing the exposure amount using a laser scanning exposure device adjusted so that the overlap between the rasters of the light beams was within the range of 5 to 30%. Then, using the following color developer (CDC-1), color development is carried out at 37 ± 0.5 ° C. for 45 seconds (after the color development, usual bleach-fixing and washing or stabilizing treatment is carried out). The reflection density of the gray patch portion of the obtained sample was measured, and a characteristic curve composed of the horizontal axis: exposure amount (LogE) and the vertical axis: reflection density (D) was created, and the exposure amount was increased for each step. The point gamma can be obtained by calculating the differential value of the density with respect to.
In the present invention, the time from the end of exposure to the start of development is 1 hour.

[Color developer (CDC-1)] Pure water 800 ml Triethylenediamine 2 g Diethylene glycol 10 g Potassium bromide 0.02 g Potassium chloride 4.5 g Potassium sulfite 0.25 g N-ethyl-N- (β-methanesulfonamidoethyl) -3-Methyl-4-aminoaniline sulfate 4.0 g N, N-diethylhydroxylamine 5.6 g triethanolamine 10.0 g diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid sodium salt 2.0 g potassium carbonate 30 g Water was added to bring the total volume to 1 liter. The pH is adjusted to 10.1 with sulfuric acid or potassium hydroxide.

In the present invention, the diameter of the light beam (beam diameter) is the width of the raster. The light beam diameter here can be defined as the diameter of the circle formed by taking out where the light beam intensity is e ^-2 times the maximum intensity (center of the beam). For example, a beam monitor that combines a slit and a power meter. And so on.

The second aspect of the present invention is, after exposure so that the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less, the effective gradation region (VE) of the color image obtained by color development processing. The difference (ΔVE) between the VE value of the color image forming layer that maximizes) and the VE value of the minimum color image forming layer is 0 or more and 0.08 or less. When the value of ΔVE is small, the balance of the yellow, magenta, and cyan images is maintained relatively well, and it is presumed that the color blurring of the character outline and the exposure scanning stripes in the solid image portion are reduced. .

The third invention is such that the maximum point gamma (p) of the color image obtained by color development processing after exposure so that the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less.
-Γ (max)) is 3.6 or more and 5.0 or less for each color image forming layer. When the p-γ (max) of each color image forming layer is smaller than 3.6, when exposed by various digital exposure apparatuses having different exposure light sources, exposure systems, or the processing time from exposure to development changes. In this case, the degree of bleeding of the character outline portion is likely to vary, while if it is greater than 5.0, exposure scanning streaks in the solid image portion are likely to occur.

In the present invention, even when exposure is performed by various digital exposure apparatuses having different exposure light sources, exposure systems, etc., a print with reduced reproducibility of character images and scanning unevenness of scene images can be stably reproduced, Furthermore, even if the processing time from exposure to development changes, the mechanism by which stable printing with little change in density is obtained is not clear, but the following phenomenon is presumed as a factor. That is, in a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, a latent image is formed around the photosensitive nuclei of photosensitive silver halide by exposure, and a printed image is obtained by development processing, but it is mainly formed by chemical sensitization. The photosensitive nucleus and the latent image formed by exposure are not uniform, and exist with a certain distribution of the photosensitive nucleus and latent image in various states. This distribution state is considered to be basically reflected in the characteristic curve, and it is considered that most photosensitive materials having different characteristic curve shapes have different distribution states of photosensitive nuclei or latent images. In the high-intensity short-time exposure, among the photosensitive nuclei that are the center of latent image formation, there are photosensitive nuclei that are easily affected by the exposure intensity and the exposure time interval, and each parameter was designed to fall within the range of the present invention. In this case, it is presumed that one of the factors that improves the print reproduction stability for different exposure light sources and exposure methods is that the ratio of the photosensitive nuclei that is easily affected is reduced. Further, in the latent image formed in the high-intensity short-time exposure, there is a latent image whose state is likely to change with time after the exposure, and when each parameter is designed to fall within the range of the present invention, It is presumed that the reduction of the ratio of the latent image that is easy to perform is one of the factors that improve the print reproduction stability with respect to the change in the processing time from exposure to development.

The means for satisfying the requirements of the present invention is not particularly limited, but for example, the characteristics of the photosensitive silver halide contained in the light-sensitive material can be optimally controlled or the light-sensitive halogen to be coated can be used. This can be achieved by using, alone or in combination, a method of appropriately controlling the type and amount of various photographic additives such as silver halide, couplers, and inhibitors.

To form a photographic image using the silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material of the present invention, the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds based on digital image data. It is preferable to use such an exposure method. Among them, the scanning exposure method using a light beam can be preferably used from the viewpoint that high quality print can be obtained while maintaining high print productivity.

Scanning exposure with a light beam preferably used in the present invention is usually linear exposure with a light beam (raster exposure: main scanning) and relative exposure of a photosensitive material in a direction perpendicular to the linear exposure direction. It is common to perform a combination of different movements (sub-scanning). For example, a photosensitive material is fixed to the outer or inner circumference of a cylindrical drum, and main scanning is performed by rotating the drum while irradiating a light beam, and at the same time, the light source is moved perpendicularly to the rotating direction of the drum. By doing so, a method of performing sub-scanning (drum method), or by irradiating a rotated polygon mirror with a light beam, the reflected beam is scanned horizontally with the rotating surface of the polygon mirror (main scanning).
In addition, the sub-scanning is performed by conveying the photosensitive material perpendicularly to the polygon rotation surface (polygon method).
Etc. are often used. In the drum system, the main scanning speed can be adjusted by adjusting the drum diameter and the rotation speed of the drum, and the sub-scanning speed can be adjusted by adjusting the moving speed of the light source. Further, in the polygon system, the main scanning speed can be adjusted by adjusting the size, number of surfaces, rotation speed, etc. of the polygon, and the sub-scanning speed can be adjusted by adjusting the conveying speed of the photosensitive material.

The overlap between the rasters of the light beams is adjusted by adjusting the timings of the main scanning speed and the sub scanning speed described above.
It can be controlled appropriately. When an exposure head in which light sources are arranged in an array is used, it is possible to control the overlap between the rasters of the light beams by appropriately adjusting the intervals between the individual light sources.

The type of exposure light source that can be used in the present invention includes a light emitting diode (LED), a gas laser, a semiconductor laser (LD), a solid-state laser using LD or LD as an excitation light source, and a second harmonic changing element. Any known light source such as an organic or inorganic EL element or a fluorescent display tube can be used in combination with (so-called SHG element). In addition, a PLZT element, a DMD element,
Alternatively, a light source in which a shutter element such as liquid crystal, a light source such as a halogen lamp and a color filter are combined can be preferably used.

The composition of the silver halide emulsion used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention may be any halogen such as silver chloride, silver bromide, silver chlorobromide, silver iodobromide, silver chloroiodobromide and silver chloroiodide. Although it may have a composition, among them, silver chlorobromide or silver chloroiodide containing 95 mol% or more of silver chloride is preferable because the effect of the present invention is remarkable. From the viewpoint of rapid processability and process stability, a silver halide emulsion containing preferably 97 mol% or more, and more preferably 98 to 99.9 mol% silver chloride is preferable.

In the light-sensitive material of the present invention, a silver halide emulsion having a portion containing a high concentration of silver bromide is also used from the viewpoint of reducing the softening of the characteristic curve in the high concentration region in high-intensity short-time exposure. It can be preferably used. In this case, the portion containing silver bromide in a high concentration may be an epitaxy-bonded silver halide grain, a so-called core-shell emulsion, or may not form a complete layer and may be partially There may only be regions of different composition.
The composition may change continuously or discontinuously. The portion where silver bromide is present at a high concentration is particularly preferably the surface of the silver halide grain or the apex of the crystal grain.

In the light-sensitive material of the present invention, it is preferable to use silver halide grains containing heavy metal ions from the viewpoint of reducing softening caused by high-intensity short-time scanning exposure. Examples of heavy metal ions that can be used for such purposes include, for example, Group 8 to 10 metals such as iron, iridium, platinum, palladium, nickel, rhodium, osmium, ruthenium, and cobalt; and cadmium, zinc, mercury, and the like. Examples include Group 12 transition metals and ions of lead, rhenium, molybdenum, tungsten, gallium, and chromium. Of these, metal ions of iron, iridium, platinum, ruthenium, gallium, and osmium are preferable.
These metal ions can be added to the silver halide emulsion in the form of salt or complex salt.

When the heavy metal ion forms a complex, examples of its ligand or ion include cyanide ion, thiocyanate ion, cyanate ion, chloride ion, bromide ion, iodide ion and nitric acid. Ions, carbonyl, ammonia and the like can be mentioned.
Among them, cyanide ion, thiocyanate ion, isothiocyanate ion, chloride ion, bromide ion and the like are preferable.

To contain the above-mentioned heavy metal ions in the silver halide grains, the heavy metal compound is physically aged before the formation of the silver halide grains, during the formation of the silver halide grains, after the formation of the silver halide grains, and the like. It may be added at any time in each of the steps. In addition, in the addition, the solution of the heavy metal compound can be continuously carried out over the whole or part of the particle forming step.

When the above heavy metal ions are added to the silver halide emulsion, the amount is 1 × 10 ^-9 per mol of silver halide.
More preferably, it is 1 mole or more and 1 × 10 ^-2 mole or less, and particularly 1
× 10 ^-8 mol to 5 × 10 ^-5 mol or less.

In the light-sensitive material of the present invention, any shape of silver halide grains can be used. One preferable example is a cube having a (100) plane as a crystal surface. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,756,
No. 4,225,666, JP-A-55-26589.
Issue, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 55-42737, and The Journal of Photographic Science (J. Photo.
gr. Sci. ) 21, 39 (1973) and the like, and the like, particles having a shape such as an octahedron, a tetradecahedron and a dodecahedron can be prepared and used. Further, grains having twin planes may be used.

In the light-sensitive material of the present invention, silver halide grains having a single shape are preferably used, but it is particularly preferable to add two or more kinds of monodispersed silver halide emulsions to the same layer.

The grain size of the silver halide grains according to the present invention is
There is no particular limitation, but in view of rapid processability, sensitivity and other photographic performance, preferably 0.1 to 1.2 μm,
More preferably, it is in the range of 0.2 to 1.0 μm. This particle size can be measured using the projected area of the particle or a diameter approximation. If the particles are of substantially uniform shape, the particle size distribution can be expressed as diameter or projected area.

The particle size distribution of the silver halide grains used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention is preferably monodisperse silver halide grains having a coefficient of variation of 0.22 or less, more preferably 0.15 or less, and particularly preferably. Is to add two or more kinds of monodisperse emulsions having a coefficient of variation of 0.15 or less to the same layer. The coefficient of variation referred to here is a coefficient representing the breadth of the particle size distribution and is defined by the following formula.

Coefficient of variation = S / R (where S is the standard deviation of the grain size distribution and R is the average grain size.) The grain size referred to here is the diameter of spherical silver halide grains. Also, in the case of a particle having a shape other than a cube or a sphere, it represents the diameter when the projected image is converted into a circular image having the same area.

As the apparatus and method for preparing the silver halide emulsion, various methods known in the art can be used. The silver halide emulsion used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention may be one obtained by any of the acidic method, the neutral method and the ammonia method. The silver halide grains may be grown at one time or may be grown after preparing seed grains. The method for preparing the seed particles and the method for growing the particles may be the same or different.

The method of reacting the soluble silver salt with the soluble halide salt may be any of a forward mixing method, a back mixing method, a simultaneous mixing method, or a combination thereof. Those listed are preferred. Further, as one form of the simultaneous mixing method, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 48521/54
It is also possible to use the pAg-controlled double jet method described in the publication.

Further, JP-A-57-92523 and 57-57.
-92524, etc., a device for supplying an aqueous solution of a water-soluble silver salt and a water-soluble halide salt from an addition device arranged in a reaction mother liquor, water-soluble as described in German Published Patent No. 2,921,164, etc. Device for continuously changing the concentration of silver salt and water-soluble halide salt aqueous solution and adding the solution, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56
An apparatus for forming grains while keeping the distance between silver halide grains constant by taking out the reaction mother liquor from the reactor described in No. -501776 and concentrating it by ultrafiltration may be used. Further, if necessary, a silver halide solvent such as thioether may be used. Further, a compound having a mercapto group, a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound or a compound such as a sensitizing dye may be added and used during the formation of silver halide grains or after the completion of grain formation.

The silver halide emulsion used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention can be used in combination with a sensitizing method using a gold compound and a sensitizing method using a chalcogen sensitizer. As the chalcogen sensitizer applied to the silver halide emulsion,
For example, a sulfur sensitizer, a selenium sensitizer, a tellurium sensitizer and the like can be used, but the sulfur sensitizer is preferable. Examples of the sulfur sensitizer include thiosulfate, allylthiocarbamidothiourea, allylisothiocyanate, cystine, p-toluenethiosulfonate, rhodanine, and inorganic sulfur. The amount of the sulfur sensitizer added is preferably changed depending on the type of silver halide emulsion to be applied and the magnitude of the expected effect.
Approximately 5 × 10 ^{-10 to} 5 × 10 per mol of silver halide
^-5 mol, preferably 5 x 10 ^{-8 to} 3 x 10 ^-5 mol.

As the gold sensitizer, for example, various gold complexes other than chloroauric acid, gold sulfide and the like can be added.
Examples of the ligand compound used include dimethyl rhodanine, thiocyanic acid, mercaptotetrazole, and mercaptotriazole. The amount of gold compound used varies depending on the type of silver halide emulsion, the type of compound used, the ripening conditions, etc., but is usually 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ mol per mol of silver halide. Is preferred. More preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ or more
It is 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ mol. A reduction sensitization method may be used as the chemical sensitization method for the silver halide emulsion according to the present invention.

The silver halide emulsion used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention is for the purpose of preventing fog occurring during the process of preparing the light-sensitive material, reducing performance fluctuation during storage, and preventing fog occurring during development. Well-known antifoggants and stabilizers can be used. As an example of a preferable compound that can be used for such a purpose, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1460
The general formula (I
The compound represented by I) can be mentioned, and more preferable specific compounds include (IIa-1) to (IIa-8) and (IIb-1) to (IIb) described on page 8 of the publication.
-7) compound or 1- (3-methoxyphenyl) -5
Examples thereof include compounds such as -mercaptotetrazole and 1- (4-ethoxyphenyl) -5-mercaptotetrazole. These compounds, depending on their purpose,
It is added in steps such as the step of preparing silver halide emulsion grains, the step of chemical sensitization, the end of the chemical sensitization step, and the step of preparing a coating solution. When chemical sensitization is carried out in the presence of these compounds, it is preferably used in an amount of about 1 × 10 ^{−5 to} 5 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol per mol of silver halide. When added at the end of chemical sensitization, 1 × 10 ^-6 to 1 mol per mol of silver halide
An amount of about 1 × 10 ⁻² mol is preferable, and 1 × 10 ^{−5 to} 5 ×
More preferably, it is 10 ⁻³ mol. In the coating liquid preparation process,
When it is added to the silver halide emulsion layer, the amount is preferably about 1 × 10 ^-6 to 1 × 10 ^-1 mol, and more preferably 1 × 10 ^-5 to 1 × 10 ^-2 mol, per mol of silver halide. preferable. When it is added to the constituent layers other than the silver halide emulsion layer, the amount in the coating film is 1 × 10 ⁻⁹ to 1 × 1 per 1 m ^2.
The amount is preferably about 0 ^-3 mol.

Dyes having absorption in various wavelength regions can be used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention for the purpose of preventing irradiation and halation. For this purpose, any of the known compounds can be used. Particularly, as a dye having absorption in the visible region, JP-A-3-251840 can be used.
The dyes of AI-1 to 11 described in JP-A No. 308, the dye described in JP-A-6-3770, and the dye described in JP-A-11-119379 are preferably used for infrared absorption. As the dye, compounds represented by the general formulas (I), (II) and (III) described in the lower left column of page 2 of JP-A No. 1-280750 have preferable spectral characteristics and a silver halide photographic emulsion. Is also preferable because it does not affect the photographic characteristics of the above and there is no stain due to residual color.

The amount of these dyes to be added is such that the exposure is carried out in an extremely high illuminance and an extremely short time, such as the exposure with a laser beam,
In order to improve the sharpness in both exposure with high illuminance and short time such as exposure using an LED, the addition amount and the type of dye are appropriately selected so that the silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material has a thickness of 630 nm to 730 nm. 7. It has one spectral sensitivity maximum and the reflected light quantity at 670 nm is the incident light quantity.
It is preferable that the aspect ratio is 3% or more and 10% or less,
Further, it has one spectral sensitivity maximum at 520 nm to 570 nm, and the reflected light amount at 550 nm is 38 times the incident light amount.
% Or more and 50% or less, and further has one spectral sensitivity maximum at 450 nm to 500 nm, and the reflected light amount at 460 nm is 50% of the incident light amount.
The embodiment in which the amount is from 63% to 63% is preferably used.

From the viewpoint of improving whiteness, it is preferable to add a fluorescent whitening agent to the light-sensitive material of the present invention. Examples of the compounds preferably used include the compounds represented by the general formula II described in JP-A-2-232652.

The light-sensitive material of the present invention comprises a yellow coupler,
40 in combination with magenta coupler and cyan coupler
It has a layer containing a silver halide emulsion spectrally sensitized in a specific region of a wavelength range of 0 to 900 nm. The silver halide emulsion contains one kind or a combination of two or more kinds of sensitizing dyes.

As the spectral sensitizing dye used for the spectral sensitization of the silver halide emulsion used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention, any known compound can be used. BS-1 to BS-8 described in page 28 of Kaihei 3-251840 can be preferably used alone or in combination. As the green-sensitizing sensitizing dye, GS-1 to 5 described on page 28 of the same publication are preferably used. As the red photosensitive sensitizing dye, RS-1 to RS-8 described on page 29 of the same publication are preferably used. Also,
When image exposure is performed by infrared light using a semiconductor laser or the like, it is necessary to use an infrared-sensitive sensitizing dye, and as the infrared-sensitive sensitizing dye, JP-A-4-285 is known.
The dyes of IRS-1 to 11 described in JP-A 950, pages 6 to 8 are preferably used. Also, these infrared, red,
For green and blue photosensitive sensitizing dyes, the supersensitizers SS-1 to SS-9 described in JP-A-4-285950, pages 8 to 9 and the supersensitizers described in JP-A-5-66515, pages 15 to 17 are described. It is preferable to use the compounds S-1 to S-17 in combination. The sensitizing dye may be added at any time from the formation of silver halide grains to the end of chemical sensitization.

The sensitizing dye may be added by dissolving it in a water-miscible organic solvent such as methanol, ethanol, fluorinated alcohol, acetone or dimethylformamide or water and adding it as a solution, or as a solid dispersion. You may add.

As the coupler used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention, any compound capable of forming a coupling product having a spectral absorption maximum wavelength in a wavelength region longer than 340 nm by a coupling reaction with an oxidant of a color developing agent. Can also be used, but as a typical example, the wavelength range 3
Known as a yellow dye forming coupler having a spectral absorption maximum wavelength in 50 to 500 nm, a magenta dye forming coupler having a spectral absorption maximum wavelength in a wavelength range of 500 to 600 nm, and a cyan dye forming coupler having a spectral absorption maximum wavelength in a wavelength range of 600 to 750 nm. The ones that are listed are typical.

As a cyan coupler which can be preferably used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention, JP-A-4-11415 is known.
The general formula (C-
Examples thereof include couplers represented by I) and (C-II). Specific compounds include those described as CC-1 to CC-9 in the lower right column of page 5 to the lower left column of page 6 of the specification.

As the magenta coupler which can be preferably used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention, JP-A-4-1141 is known.
The general formula (M-
Examples thereof include couplers represented by I) and (M-II). Specific compounds include those described as MC-1 to MC-11 in the same publication, page 4, lower left column to page 5, upper right column. Among the above-mentioned magenta couplers, more preferred are couplers represented by the general formula (M-I) described in the right upper column of page 4 of the same publication, and among them, RM of the above-mentioned general formula (M-I). A coupler in which is a tertiary alkyl group is particularly preferable because it has excellent light resistance.
MC-8 described in the upper column on page 5 of the publication
MC-11 is preferable because it is excellent in color reproduction from blue to purple and red and is excellent in detail depiction ability.

A yellow coupler which can be preferably used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention is described in JP-A-4-1141.
The general formula (Y-
The couplers represented by I) can be mentioned. Specific compounds are described in YC- in the lower left column on page 3 of the specification.
1 to YC-9 can be mentioned. Above all, RY of the general formula [Y-1] in the specification of the publication.
A coupler in which 1 is an alkoxy group or JP-A-6-67
The coupler represented by the general formula [I] described in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 388 is preferable because it can reproduce a preferable yellow tone. Of these, examples of particularly preferable compounds are JP-A-4-11415.
YC-described in the lower left column of page 4 of Japanese Patent Publication No. 4
8, YC-9, and compounds represented by Nos. (1) to (47) described on pages 13 to 14 of JP-A-6-67388. The most preferable compound is a compound represented by the general formula [Y-1] described in JP-A-4-81847, page 1 and page 11, page 17 to page 17.

When the oil-in-water type emulsion dispersion method is used as a method of adding the coupler or other organic compound used in the light-sensitive material of the present invention, it is usually used in a water-insoluble high-boiling point organic solvent having a boiling point of 150 ° C. or higher. Low boiling point and / or as required
Alternatively, a water-soluble organic solvent is also used in combination to dissolve, and a surfactant is emulsified and dispersed in a hydrophilic binder such as an aqueous gelatin solution. As a dispersing means, a stirrer, a homogenizer, a colloid mill, a flow jet mixer, an ultrasonic disperser or the like can be used. After the dispersion or at the same time as the dispersion, a step of removing the low boiling point organic solvent may be added.
As the high-boiling organic solvent that can be used to dissolve and disperse the coupler, for example, dioctyl phthalate, diisodecyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate and other phthalates, tricresyl phosphate, trioctyl phthalate and other phosphate esters. Classes are preferably used. The dielectric constant of the high boiling point organic solvent is 3.
It is preferably 5 to 7.0. It is also possible to use two or more high boiling point organic solvents in combination.

In place of the method using a high-boiling organic solvent, or in combination with a high-boiling organic solvent, a water-insoluble and organic solvent-soluble polymer compound may be added, if necessary, to a low-boiling and / or water-soluble organic solvent. It is also possible to employ a method in which the surfactant is dissolved in a hydrophilic binder such as an aqueous gelatin solution and the resulting mixture is emulsified by various dispersing means using a surfactant.
Examples of the water-insoluble organic solvent-soluble polymer used at this time include poly (Nt-butylacrylamide).

The above-mentioned dispersion liquid is usually added to a coating liquid containing a silver halide emulsion, and the time until it is added to the coating liquid after dispersion and the time until the coating after addition to the coating liquid. Is preferably shorter, preferably within 10 hours, more preferably within 3 hours, and further preferably 2 hours.
This is a mode in which the time is within 0 minutes.

Preferred compounds as the surfactant used for dispersing the photographic additives and adjusting the surface tension during coating are a hydrophobic group having 8 to 30 carbon atoms and a sulfonic acid group or a salt thereof in one molecule. The thing contained is mentioned. Specifically, A described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-26854
-1-A-11 are mentioned. Further, a surfactant having a fluorine atom substituted in the alkyl group can also be used.

An anti-fading agent is preferably used in combination with each of the above-mentioned couplers in order to prevent fading of the formed dye image due to light, heat, humidity and the like. Particularly preferred compounds include phenyl ether compounds represented by the general formulas I and II described in JP-A-2-66541, page 3, and general formula IIIB described in JP-A-3-174150.
Phenolic compound represented by JP-A-64-90445
The amine compounds represented by the general formula A described in JP-A No. 62-182741 and the general formulas XII, XIII and X described in JP-A No. 62-182741.
The metal complexes represented by IV and XV are particularly preferable for the magenta dye. Further, the compounds represented by the general formula I ′ described in JP-A-1-196049 and JP-A-5-11417
The compounds represented by the general formula II described in JP-A No. 1993-242242 are particularly preferable for yellow and cyan dyes.

The compound (d-11) described in JP-A-4-114154, page 9, lower left column, the compound described in JP-A-4-114154, page 10, lower left column, for the purpose of shifting the absorption wavelength of the color forming dye. Compounds such as (A'-1) can be used. In addition to this, US Pat.
The fluorescent dye-releasing compounds described in Japanese Patent No. 774,187 can also be used.

In the light-sensitive material of the present invention, a compound which reacts with an oxidized product of a developing agent is added to the layer between the light-sensitive layers to prevent color turbidity, or is added to the silver halide emulsion layer. It is preferable to improve fog and the like. The compound for this purpose is preferably a hydroquinone derivative, more preferably a dialkylhydroquinone such as 2,5-di-t-octylhydroquinone. A particularly preferable compound is the compound represented by the general formula II described in JP-A-4-133056, and the specifications of the same publications 13 to 1
Compounds II-1 to II-14 described on page 4 and compound 1 described on page 17 can be mentioned.

It is preferable to add an ultraviolet absorber to the light-sensitive material of the present invention to prevent static fog and to improve the light resistance of the dye image. Examples of preferable ultraviolet absorbers include benzotriazoles, and particularly preferable compounds are compounds represented by the general formula III-3 described in JP-A-1-250944, JP-A-SHO-6.
Compounds represented by the general formula III described in JP-A-4-66646 and UV-1L described in JP-A-63-187240.
To UV-27L, compounds represented by the general formula I described in JP-A-4-1633, and compounds represented by the general formulas (I) and (II) described in JP-A-5-165144.

It is advantageous to use gelatin as a binder in the light-sensitive material of the present invention, but if necessary, a gelatin derivative, a graft polymer of gelatin and another polymer, a protein other than gelatin, a sugar derivative, a cellulose derivative. Also, hydrophilic colloids such as synthetic hydrophilic polymer substances such as single or copolymers can be used.

As the hardener for these binders, it is preferable to use a vinyl sulfone type hardener or a chlorotriazine type hardener alone or in combination. For example, JP-A-61-249054 and 61-245153. It is preferable to use the compounds described in the publication. Further, in order to prevent the growth of molds and bacteria that adversely affect photographic performance and image storability, it is preferable to add a preservative and an antifungal agent as described in JP-A-3-157646 to the colloid layer. Further, in order to improve the surface properties of the light-sensitive material before or after processing, a slip agent or a matting agent described in JP-A-6-118543 or JP-A-2-73250 may be added to the protective layer. preferable.

Any material can be used as the support for the light-sensitive material of the present invention. Paper coated with polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate, paper support made of natural pulp or synthetic pulp, vinyl chloride sheet, white Polypropylene, which may contain a pigment, polyethylene terephthalate support, baryta paper and the like can be used. Of these, a support having a waterproof resin coating layer on both sides of the base paper is preferable. As the water resistant resin, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate or a copolymer thereof is preferable.

As the white pigment used for the support, inorganic and / or organic white pigments can be used, and preferably inorganic white pigments are used. For example, alkaline earth metal sulfates such as barium sulfate, alkaline earth metal carbonates such as calcium carbonate, finely divided silicic acid, silicas such as synthetic silicates, calcium silicate, alumina, hydrated alumina, Examples thereof include titanium oxide, zinc oxide, talc and clay. Among the white pigments, barium sulfate and titanium oxide are preferable.

The amount of the white pigment contained in the water resistant resin layer on the surface of the support is 13% by mass for improving the sharpness.
The above is preferable, and further 15% by mass is preferable.

In the paper support used for the light-sensitive material of the present invention, the degree of dispersion of the white pigment in the water resistant resin layer is as described in JP-A-2-
It can be measured by the method described in Japanese Patent No. 28640. When measured by this method, the degree of dispersion of the white pigment is preferably 0.20 or less, more preferably 0.15 or less, as the coefficient of variation described in the above publication.

The center surface average roughness (SRa) of the support
Is more preferably 0.15 μm or less, further preferably 0.12 μm or less, because the effect of good gloss is obtained. Further, in the water-resistant resin containing a white pigment of the reflective support or in the applied hydrophilic colloid layer, in order to improve the whiteness by adjusting the spectral reflection density balance of the white background after the treatment, for example, ultramarine blue, It is preferable to add a slight amount of a blue tinting agent, a red tinting agent, or an optical brightening agent such as an oil-soluble dye.

In the light-sensitive material of the present invention, the surface of the support is subjected to corona discharge, ultraviolet irradiation, flame treatment, etc., if necessary, and then each photographic constituent layer is directly or undercoated (adhesiveness of the surface of the support, Applied through one or more undercoat layers for improving antistatic properties, dimensional stability, abrasion resistance, hardness, antihalation properties, friction properties and / or other properties) Good.

When coating a photographic light-sensitive material using a silver halide emulsion, a thickener may be used to improve coatability. As the coating method, extrusion coating and curtain coating which can simultaneously coat two or more layers are particularly useful.

The present invention is particularly preferably applied to a light-sensitive material which forms an image for direct viewing. Examples thereof include color papers, color reversal papers, photosensitive materials for forming positive images, photosensitive materials for displays, and photosensitive materials for color proofs.

In the image forming method of the present invention, known compounds can be used as the aromatic primary amine developing agent used in the developing treatment. Examples of these compounds include N, N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine, 2
-Amino-5-diethylaminotoluene, 2-amino-
5- (N-ethyl-N-laurylamino) toluene, 4
-(N-ethyl-N- (β-hydroxyethyl) amino) aniline, 2-methyl-4- (N-ethyl-N-)
(Β-hydroxyethyl) amino) aniline, 4-amino-3-methyl-N-ethyl-N- (β- (methanesulfonamido) ethyl) -aniline, N- (2-amino-
5-diethylaminophenylethyl) methanesulfonamide, N, N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine, 4,
-Amino-3-methyl-N-ethyl-N-methoxyethylaniline, 4-amino-3-methyl-N-ethyl-N
-(Β-Ethoxyethyl) aniline, 4-amino-3-
Methyl-N-ethyl-N- (γ-hydroxypropyl)
Examples include aniline. In addition to the aromatic primary amine color developing agent, for example, European Patent No. 565,165.
No. 5,572,054, No. 593,110, JP-A-8-202002, No. 8-227131, and No. 8
No. 234390, Japanese Patent Application No. 10-171335, equivalently described sulfonyl hydrazide and carbonyl hydrazide type color developing agents, and sulfonamide phenol type color developing agents described in JP-A No. 11-149146 and the like are also preferably used. it can.

In the present invention, the color developing solution containing the color developing agent can be used in any pH range, but from the viewpoint of rapid processing, use at pH 9.5 to 13.0 is preferable,
The pH is more preferably in the range of 9.8 to 12.0.

The temperature of the processing solution for color development is preferably 35 to 70 ° C. The higher the temperature is, the shorter the treatment time is, which is preferable, but it is preferable that the treatment liquid is not so high in view of the stability of the treatment liquid, and the treatment at 37 to 60 ° C is preferable. The color development time is conventionally about 45 seconds, but
In the present invention, it is preferably within 35 seconds, more preferably within 25 seconds.

To the color developing solution, known developer component compounds can be added in addition to the color developing agent. Usually, an alkaline agent having a pH buffering action, a chloride ion, a development inhibitor such as benzotriazole, a preservative,
A chelating agent or the like is used.

The light-sensitive material of the present invention is subjected to bleaching treatment and fixing treatment after color development. As the bleaching agent, an iron complex salt of polycarboxylic acid is usually preferably used. Among them, a particularly preferable compound is the bleaching agent described in JP-A-5-281684.

The bleaching agent is preferably 0.
05 g to 50 g is used, and more preferably 0.1 g to
This is an embodiment used in the range of 20 g. The temperature of the bleaching solution or the bleach-fixing solution is 2 from the viewpoint of bleaching time and bleaching fog.
The temperature is preferably 0 to 50 ° C, more preferably 25 to 45 ° C. The pH of the bleaching solution is preferably 6.0 or less, more preferably 1.0 or more and 5.5 or less, and the pH of the bleach-fixing solution is preferably 5.0 to 9.0, more preferably 6 or less. .0 to 8.5. The pH of the bleaching solution or the bleach-fixing solution is the pH of the processing bath during the processing of the silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material and can be clearly distinguished from the so-called replenisher pH.

In addition to the above, halides such as ammonium bromide, potassium bromide and sodium bromide, various fluorescent whitening agents, defoaming agents, surfactants and the like should be added to the bleaching solution or bleach-fixing solution. You can also

The preferred replenishing amount of the bleaching solution or the bleach-fixing solution is 50 per 1 m ^{2 of} silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material.
0 ml or less, more preferably 40 ml to 350
ml.

In the present invention, in order to enhance the activity of the bleaching solution or the bleach-fixing solution, air or oxygen may be blown in the treatment bath and the treatment replenisher storage tank, if desired. An oxidizing agent such as hydrogen peroxide, bromate, or persulfate may be added as appropriate.

As the fixing agent used in the fixing solution or the bleach-fixing solution, thiocyanates and thiosulfates are preferably used.

The fixing solution or the bleach-fixing solution may contain, in addition to these fixing agents, a pH buffering agent comprising various salts, either alone or in combination of two or more. Further, it is desirable to add an appropriate amount of a rehalogenating agent such as an alkali halide or an ammonium halide, for example, potassium bromide, sodium bromide, sodium chloride or ammonium bromide. Further, compounds known to be added to ordinary fixing solutions or bleach-fixing solutions such as alkylamines and polyethylene oxides can be added as appropriate.

In the present invention, silver may be recovered from the bleach-fixing solution by a known method. The processing time with the bleaching solution and the fixing solution is arbitrary, but is preferably 3 minutes and 30 seconds or less, more preferably 10 seconds to 2 minutes and 20 seconds, and particularly preferably 20 seconds to 1 minute and 20 seconds. is there. The processing time with the bleach-fixing solution is preferably 4 minutes or less, more preferably 10 seconds to 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

In carrying out the present invention, it is preferable that the ratio of ammonium ion to the total cations in the bleaching solution or the bleach-fixing solution is 50 mol% or less, more preferably 30 mol% or less, and further preferably. It is 10 mol% or less.

From the viewpoint of improving the processing speed, it is preferable to apply forced liquid agitation to the bleaching solution and the bleach-fixing solution. The forced liquid stirring referred to here means to stir by adding stirring means. As forcible stirring means, there are JP-A 64-222259 and JP-A 1-206343.
The means described in No. 10 can be preferably used.

The crossover time from the color developing tank to the bleaching tank or the bleach-fixing tank is preferably within 10 seconds, more preferably within 7 seconds, which is advantageous from the viewpoint of reducing bleach fog. The bleaching solution and the bleach-fixing solution preferably contain substantially no acetic acid.

After bleach-fixing or fixing treatment, washing treatment is usually carried out. Further, as a substitute for the washing treatment, a stabilizing treatment may be performed.

The developing processing apparatus used for developing the light-sensitive material of the present invention, even if it is a roller transport type in which the light-sensitive material is sandwiched between rollers arranged in a processing tank and conveyed, the light-sensitive material is fixed to a belt. Alternatively, an endless belt method may be used, in which the processing tank is formed in a slit shape, the processing solution is supplied to the processing tank and the photosensitive material is transferred, and a spray method in which the processing solution is sprayed. Alternatively, a web method by contact with a carrier impregnated with a treatment liquid, a method by a viscous treatment liquid, or the like can be used.

In the case of processing a large amount of a light-sensitive material, it is usual to carry out a running processing by using an automatic developing machine. At this time, the smaller the replenishing amount of the replenisher is, the more preferable the processing form is from the viewpoint of environmental suitability. As a replenishment method, a treatment agent is added in the form of tablets.
The method described in No. 935 is most preferable.

The image forming method according to the present invention can be preferably applied to a heat developing system. In the present invention,
The thermal development refers to a method of developing the exposed light-sensitive material by heating it at 50 ° C to 250 ° C, preferably 60 ° C to 150 ° C. The heat treatment is performed according to, for example, JP-A-63-7.
No. 1850, etc., a method of heating and conveying while sandwiching a photosensitive material between a heat drum and a drum belt, or setting the photosensitive material between a heater and a support so that heating is performed simultaneously with pressurization. A so-called direct heating method, a method of passing a photosensitive material between far-infrared heaters described in JP-A-4-240642, and the like,
Alternatively, a so-called indirect heating method of heating by irradiation with microwaves, or a method of combining a direct heating method and an indirect heating method can be used.

In the heat development, for example, JP-A-63-
No. 108337 etc., a single photosensitive material is used for exposure and heat development to obtain a final image.
Formed or released by so-called one-sheet method, heat-development using a light-sensitive material and a dye image-receiving material as described in Example 1 of JP-A-6-95321 and Example 1 of JP-A-7-225461. The final image is obtained by diffusively transferring the image dye from the light-sensitive material to the dye image-receiving material,
Any of the so-called two-sheet method can be used.
In addition, a method in which a photosensitive layer and a dye image-receiving layer are laminated on one support, the image dye formed or released by heat development is diffuse-transferred from the photosensitive layer to the dye image-receiving layer, and then the photosensitive layer is peeled and removed. Can also be preferably used.

In the heat development, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-1
As described in Example 1 of 20739, a method of developing only by heating without supplying a reaction auxiliary agent from the outside, and Example 1 of JP-A-9-5968 are described. As described above, any method may be used in which a small amount of a reaction aid (for example, water) is supplied to the photosensitive material at the time of heat development, and then heat development is performed. If no reaction aid is supplied from the outside, it is solid at room temperature,
An embodiment in which a so-called thermal solvent which is liquefied at the thermal development temperature is contained in the photosensitive material in advance is preferable. Examples of the thermal solvent include, for example, JP-A-1-227150, page 4, upper left column,
Page 9, upper right column, paragraph No. 4-289856, [001
5] to the same [0018] column and the like can be preferably used.

In the heat development, it is preferable to use a base generator from the viewpoint of improving the silver developing speed and the diffusion speed of the image dye.
9-157637, page 3, lower right to pages 6, 59-180.
537, a method using a compound capable of generating a base by thermal decomposition as described in, for example, page 4, upper left to page 7, lower left column, JP-A-8-87097, and European Patent Publication 21.
No. 0,660, U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,445, etc., a basic metal compound sparingly soluble in water in the presence of a small amount of water and a metal constituting the basic metal compound. It is possible to use a method in which a base is generated by a combination of compounds capable of a complex formation reaction using ions and water as a medium.

In the heat development, from the viewpoint of accelerating the silver development, an embodiment in which an organic silver salt is contained in the light-sensitive material is also useful, if necessary. Examples of the organic silver salt include silver salts of long-chain aliphatic carboxylic acids and silver salts of carboxylic acids having a heterocyclic ring described in JP-A-49-52626, JP-A-53-362224 and the like. 52-137321
Nos. 58-118638 and the like, silver salts of compounds having an imino group, and silver salts of acetylene compounds described in JP-A-61-249044 and the like can be preferably used.

In the heat development, it is preferable to use a dye mordant in combination from the viewpoint of reducing image bleeding and fading when the final image is stored. As the dye mordant, a polymer containing a tertiary amine or a quaternary ammonium salt is preferably used, and for example, the compounds described in paragraph Nos. [0057] to [0060] of JP-A-9-5968 are preferably used. You can

When the light-sensitive material of the present invention is used for thermal development, a compound (dye-donating substance) which forms or releases an image dye is, for example, JP-A-61-61157.
No. 61-61158, No. 62-44738, No. 62-129850, No. 62-129851, No. 6
2-169158, couplers for forming diffusible dyes described in JP-A-3-73949 and the like, JP-A-6-63
Leuco dyes described in 1-88254 and the like, azo dyes described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,957, and the like, or JP-A-59-60434 and 59-65839.
Nos. 59-71046, 59-87450, 59-165055 and the like, JP-A-59-
55430, 59-165054 and 59-15.
No. 4445, No. 59-116655, No. 59-124.
No. 327, No. 59-152440, No. 64-1354.
No. 6, JP-A-6-51474 and the like can be preferably used, for example, compounds capable of forming an image dye in reverse correspondence to silver development.

Further, for example, JP-A-2-293753.
No. 2-308162, etc., and a photosensitive material using a microcapsule containing the above-mentioned dye-donor substance, and a polymerization reaction is carried out in an imagewise or reverse imagewise manner by heat development. Cure the microcapsules,
A heat development method in which an image is formed by changing the diffusion speed of the image dye or the physical strength of the binder can also be used.

The light-sensitive material of the present invention may also have a mode in which a developing agent or its precursor is incorporated. The developing agent contained in the light-sensitive material is required to be stable during storage of the light-sensitive material and not to unnecessarily reduce the silver salt. As a developing agent satisfying such requirements, a paraphenylenediamine-based developing agent described in JP-A-62-288835 and JP-A-9-15 can be used.
No. 806, etc., sulfonamide phenol-based main drug,
JP-A-5-241282, JP-A-8-234388, JP-A-8-286340, JP-A-9-152700, and JP-A-9-1.
52701, 9-152702, 9-1527.
No. 03, No. 9-152704 and the like, hydrazine-based main agents, JP-A Nos. 7-202002 and 8-234390.
The hydrazone-based main drugs described in the publications and the like can be mentioned.

When the light-sensitive material of the present invention contains a developing agent, development by an activator treatment can be preferably used in addition to the above-mentioned heat development treatment. Activator processing refers to a processing method in which development processing is carried out with a processing solution (activator solution) that does not contain a color developing agent, and compounds necessary for color development are incorporated in advance in the light-sensitive material. The activator solution in this case is characterized in that it does not contain the color developing agent contained in the usual color developing solution components, and may contain other components such as alkali and auxiliary developing agents. Regarding the activator treatment, European Patent Nos. 545,491A1 and 565,565 are given.
It is illustrated in publicly known documents such as 165A1.

[0111]

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

Example 1 << Preparation of silver halide emulsion >> [Preparation of blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion] 2 kept at 40 ° C.
% (A1 solution) and (B1 solution) described below were simultaneously added to 1 liter of a 1% aqueous gelatin solution over 30 minutes while controlling pAg to 7.3 and pH to 3.0. Then, the following (C1
Solution) and (D1 solution), pAg is 8.0 and pH is 5.5.
The temperature was controlled at 150 ° C, and the simultaneous addition was performed over 150 minutes. Furthermore, the following (E1 solution) and (F1 solution) had pAg of 8.0 and pH.
Was controlled at 5.5 and simultaneously added over 30 minutes. At this time, the pAg was controlled by the method described in JP-A-59-45437, and the pH was controlled by using a sulfuric acid or sodium hydroxide aqueous solution.

(Solution A1) Sodium chloride 3.42 g Potassium bromide 0.03 g Water was added to 200 ml (Solution B1) Silver nitrate 10 g Water was added to 200 ml (Solution C1) Sodium chloride 71.9 g K ₂ IrCl ₆ 4 × 10 ^-8 mol / mol Ag K ₄ Fe (CN) ₆ 2 × 10 ^-5 mol / mol Ag potassium bromide 0.7 g Water added 420 ml (D1 liquid) Silver nitrate 210 g Water added 420 ml (E1 liquid) Sodium chloride 30.8 g Potassium bromide 0.3 g Water added 180 ml (F1 solution) Silver nitrate 90 g Water added 180 ml After the addition of each of the above solutions was completed, a 5% aqueous solution of Demol N manufactured by Kao Atlas and magnesium sulfate 20 % Desalination, then mixed with gelatin aqueous solution,
Average particle size 0.64 μm, variation coefficient of particle size distribution 0.07,
EMP-1A which is a monodisperse cubic emulsion having a silver chloride content of 99.5 mol% was prepared.

Next, in the preparation of the above EMP-1A,
(A1 solution) and (B1 solution) addition time, (C1 solution) and (D
(1 solution) and (E1 solution) and (F1 solution) addition time were changed in the same manner, but the average particle size was 0.50 μm, the variation coefficient of the particle size distribution was 0.07, and silver chloride was added. EMP- which is a monodisperse cubic emulsion having a content of 99.5 mol%.
1B was prepared.

Next, the above-prepared EMP-1A was chemically sensitized at 60 ° C. using the following compounds.
Similarly, after chemically sensitizing EMP-1B, the sensitized EMP-1A and EMP-1B were mixed in a silver ratio of 1: 1 to prepare a blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion. (E
m-B1) was prepared.

Sodium thiosulfate 0.8 mg / mol AgX Chlorauric acid 0.5 mg / mol AgX Stabilizer: STAB-1 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX Stabilizer: STAB-2 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX stabilizer: STAB-3 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX sensitizing dye: BS-1 4 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX sensitizing dye: BS-2 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX STAB- 1: 1- (3-acetamidophenyl) -5-mercaptotetrazole STAB-2: 1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole STAB-3: 1- (4-ethoxyphenyl) -5-mercaptotetrazole (green sensitive silver halide Preparation of Emulsion) In the preparation of EMP-1A, the addition time of (A1 solution) and (B1 solution), (C1 solution) and (D1 solution) and (E1 solution) and (F1 solution) was changed. Except that the change in the same manner, the average particle diameter of 0.50μ
m, coefficient of variation 0.08, EMP-2A which is a monodisperse cubic emulsion having a silver chloride content of 99.5%, and an average grain size of 0.4.
EMP-2B, which is a monodisperse cubic emulsion having a silver chloride content of 5 μm and a silver chloride content of 99.5 mol%, was prepared.

The EMP-2A was chemically sensitized at 60 ° C. using the following compounds. Also, the above EMP-2B
Similarly, after chemically sensitizing, the sensitized EMP-
2A and EMP-2B were mixed in a silver amount of 1: 1 to prepare a green light-sensitive silver halide emulsion (Em-G1).

Sodium thiosulfate 1.5 mg / mol AgX Chloroauric acid 1.0 mg / mol AgX Stabilizer: STAB-1 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX Stabilizer: STAB-2 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX stabilizer: STAB-3 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX Sensitizing dye: GS-1 4 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX (Preparation of red-sensitive silver halide emulsion) In the preparation of EMP-1A, The average particle size was 0.40 μm in the same manner except that the addition times of (A1 solution) and (B1 solution), (C1 solution) and (D1 solution), and (E1 solution) and (F1 solution) were changed.
m, variation coefficient 0.08, EMP-3A which is a monodisperse cubic emulsion having a silver chloride content of 99.5%, and an average grain size of 0.4.
EMP-3B, which is a monodisperse cubic emulsion having a silver chloride content of 2 μm and a silver chloride content of 99.5 mol%, was prepared.

The following compounds were chemically sensitized to EMP-3A at 60 ° C. Also, the above EMP-3
Similarly, B was chemically sensitized and then EMP sensitized
-3A and EMP-3B were mixed in a silver amount of 1: 1 and
A red-sensitive silver halide emulsion (Em-R1) was prepared.

Sodium thiosulfate 1.8 mg / mol AgX chloroauric acid 2.0 mg / mol AgX Stabilizer: STAB-1 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX Stabilizer: STAB-2 3 × 10 ⁻⁴ mol / mol AgX stabilizer: STAB-3 3 × 10 ^-4 mol / mol AgX sensitizing dye: RS-1 1 × 10 ^-4 mol / mol AgX sensitizing dye: RS-2 1 × 10 ^-4 mol / mol AgX stabilizer : SS-1 2.0 × 10 ^-3 mol / mol AgX

[0121]

[Chemical 1]

<< Preparation of silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material >> [Preparation of Sample 101] The surface-treated anatase type titanium oxide of 15 mass% was applied to the emulsion layer coated surface of a paper pulp having a basis weight of 180 g / m ² . The high-density molten polyethylene dispersed in the content is laminated, and the back side of the high-density polyethylene-laminated reflective support is subjected to corona discharge treatment to form a gelatin undercoat layer. Each photographic constituent layer was coated to prepare Sample 101 which is a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material.

Incidentally, (H-1) and (H-2) were added as hardeners to the second, fourth and seventh layers. Further, surfactants (SU-2) and (SU-3) were added to each layer as coating aids for adjusting the surface tension. Also,
The antifungal agent (F-1) was added to each layer so that the total amount was 0.04 g / m ² . The silver halide emulsions shown in the table are shown in terms of silver.

[0124]

[Table 1]

[0125]

[Table 2]

Details of each additive used in the preparation of Sample 101 are as follows. SU-1: sodium tri-i-propylnaphthalene sulfonate SU-2: di (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate / sodium SU-3: di (2,3,3,4,4,4) sulfosuccinate
5,5, -octafluoropentyl) -sodium DBP: dibutyl phthalate DNP: dinonyl phthalate DOP: dioctyl phthalate DIDP: di-i-decyl phthalate H-1: tetrakis (vinylsulfonylmethyl) methane H-2: 2,4 -Dichloro-6-hydroxy-s-triazine sodium HQ-1: 2,5-di-t-octylhydroquinone HQ-2: 2,5-di-sec-dodecylhydroquinone HQ-3: 2,5-di- sec-Tetradecylhydroquinone HQ-4: 2-sec-dodecyl-5-sec-tetradecylhydroquinone HQ-5: 2,5-di [(1,1-dimethyl-4-hexyloxycarbonyl) butyl] hydroquinone Image stabilization Agent A: Pt-octylphenol image stabilizer B: Poly (t-butyl) Acrylamide)

[0127]

[Chemical 2]

[0128]

[Chemical 3]

[0129]

[Chemical 4]

[0130]

[Chemical 5]

[0131]

[Chemical 6]

[Measurement of Effective Gradation Area (VE) of Sample 101 and Calculation of ΔVE] Sample 1 produced as described above
01 was subjected to the evaluation (evaluation S) described below to obtain the effective gradation area (VE).

(Evaluation S) As a light source, a semiconductor laser (oscillation wavelength: 650 nm), a He—Ne gas laser (oscillation wavelength: 544 nm), an Ar gas laser (oscillation wavelength: 45)
8 nm), and the overlap between light beam rasters is 25%
Using a scanning exposure device adjusted so that the light amount is modulated by the AOM for each laser beam based on the image data and reflected on the polygon to perform main scanning on the photosensitive material, The photosensitive material is conveyed (sub-scanning) in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, and the exposure amount of each color is adjusted so that gray can be reproduced stepwise from the maximum density to the minimum density in a patch image of 1 cm x 1 cm. Scanning exposure was performed. One hour after the completion of exposure, processing was performed in the following developing processing step 1. For each step of the gray patch image thus obtained, the densitometer PD
A-65 (manufactured by Konica) was used to measure the reflection density, a plot of red light reflection density (D) against the exposure amount of the red laser (LogE) (characteristic curve), a green exposure amount of the green laser (LogE). A plot of the light reflection density (D) and a plot of the blue light reflection density (D) with respect to the exposure amount of the blue laser (LogE) were prepared. Then, for each color image, the differential value of the density (D) with respect to the exposure amount (LogE) is calculated for each step to obtain the point gamma,
The exposure amount area (effective gradation area: VE) where the point gamma is 1.0 or more is obtained, and the effective gradation area (VE) of the color image is calculated.
The difference (ΔVE) between the VE value of the color image forming layer having the maximum value and the VE value of the minimum color image forming layer was determined. Further, the average gradations of reflection densities of 0.8 to 1.8 were simultaneously obtained.

(Development Treatment) <Development Treatment Step 1> Treatment Step Temperature Time Color development (CDC-1) 37.0 ± 0.5 ° C. 45 seconds Bleach-fixing (BF-1) 35.0 ± 2.5 ° C. 45 Second Stabilization 35-39 ° C. 45 seconds Drying 60-80 ° C. 30 seconds (Development processing solution composition) <Color developer (CDC-1)> Pure water 800 ml Triethylenediamine 2 g Diethylene glycol 10 g Potassium bromide 0.02 g Potassium chloride 4. 5 g Potassium sulfite 0.25 g N-ethyl-N- (β-methanesulfonamidoethyl) -3-methyl-4-aminoaniline sulfate 4.0 g N, N-diethylhydroxylamine 5.6 g triethanolamine 10.0 g diethylenetriamine Sodium pentaacetate 2.0 g Potassium carbonate 30 g Water was added to bring the total volume to 1 liter. Was adjusted to pH 10.1 with potassium hydroxide.

<Bleach-fixing solution (BF-1)> Pure water 700 ml Diethylenetriamine pentaacetate ammonium dihydrate 65 g Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid 3 g Ammonium thiosulfate (70% aqueous solution) 100 ml 2-Amino-5-mercapto-1,3 , 4-thiadiazole 2.0 g Ammonium sulfite (40% aqueous solution) 27.5 ml Water was added to make the total amount 1 liter, and the pH was adjusted to 5.0 with potassium carbonate or glacial acetic acid.

<Stabilizing liquid> Pure water 800 ml o-Phenylphenol 1.0 g 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one 0.02 g 2-Methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one 0.02 g Diethylene glycol 1.0 g Optical brightener (Tinopearl SFP) 2.0 g 1-Hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid 1.8 g Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate 0.2 g Polyvinylpyrrolidone 1.0 g Nitrilotriacetic acid trisodium salt 1.5 g of water was added to bring the total amount to 1 liter, and the pH was adjusted to 7.5 with sulfuric acid or potassium hydroxide.

[Production of Samples 102 to 107] Next, in the production of Sample 101, the silver halide emulsion (Em-B1) used in the first layer and the silver halide emulsion (Em-G1) used in the third layer were prepared. ) And the chemical sensitization conditions of the silver halide emulsion (Em-R1) used in the fifth layer (chemical sensitization temperature, time,
Samples 102 to 107 were prepared in the same manner as above except that the mixing ratio of the additives and the mixing ratio of the silver halide emulsion were appropriately controlled so that the effective gradation region (VE) as shown in Table 3 was obtained. Was produced.

<< Evaluation of silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material >> For the samples 101 to 107 thus produced, in addition to the above-mentioned evaluation S, evaluation A, evaluation B and evaluation C were carried out according to the following method. It was

(Evaluation A) The same exposure, development process and reflection density measurement as in Evaluation S above were performed except that the time from the end of exposure to the start of development was 1 minute, and the reflection density was changed from 0.8 to 1.
The average gradation up to 8 was obtained.

(Evaluation B) The exposure apparatus was a sensitometer for high-intensity xenon flash exposure (SX-20 manufactured by Yamashita Denso Co., Ltd.).
Type), combined with a Ratten filter, and adjusted the exposure appropriately so that a gray-step image could be obtained, and exposed for 1 second through the wedge for sensitometry.
The same development processing and reflection density measurement as in Evaluation A above were performed except that the exposure was carried out for 0 to ⁶ seconds, and the reflection density was 0.8 to 1.
The average gradation up to 8 was obtained.

(Evaluation C) In the exposure apparatus used in the above evaluation A, a calibration operation was performed on each sample so that an image could be output, an LUT was prepared, and then a character image and a solid image of 50% gray were formed. The printed image including the copy was output.

(Evaluation of Output Image) Each print image obtained by the above-mentioned evaluation C was visually observed by 20 test subjects, and reproducibility of characters (black tightness, edge cut, color deviation of character outline and white) was observed. The presence / absence of collapse of the removed portion) and the uniformity of solid portion (presence or absence of scanning stripes and roughness) were evaluated. In the evaluation, the higher the image quality, the higher the score (100 points at the maximum), and the average score of 20 persons was calculated. It is shown that the higher the average point, the better the reproducibility of the character image and the more beautiful the print with reduced scanning unevenness.

The results obtained as described above and the above-mentioned evaluation S
The results are shown in Tables 3 and 4.

[0144]

[Table 3]

[0145]

[Table 4]

As is clear from Tables 3 and 4, the samples satisfying the requirements of the present invention, in which the effective gradation region in each color image forming layer is 0.84 or less, can reproduce sharp character outlines. Further, the requirement of the present invention is that the difference (ΔVE) between the VE value of the color image forming layer that maximizes the effective gradation area (VE) and the VE value of the minimum color image forming layer is 0.08 or less. It was confirmed that the samples to be filled each had a high score in the evaluation C from the viewpoint that the color blur of the character outline was small, and that a beautiful print could be finished.
In particular, sample 106 and sample 1 satisfying both requirements at the same time
It is understood that No. 07 is a particularly preferable aspect from the viewpoint that variation in gradation with respect to changes in exposure conditions and changes in time from exposure to development is small, and stable prints can be reproduced.

Example 2 << Preparation of Samples 201 to 207 >> Sample 1 described in Example 1
In the preparation of No. 01, the silver halide emulsions (Em-B1), (Em-G1) and (Em-G1) of the first, third and fifth layers were prepared.
m-R1) chemical sensitization conditions (chemical sensitization temperature, time, additive addition timing, stabilizer addition amount) and the mixing ratio of silver halide emulsion are appropriately controlled, and a coupler of each color image forming layer is added. Samples 201 to 207 were prepared in the same manner except that the amount and the amount of silver halide were appropriately adjusted and changed so that the maximum point gamma as shown in Table 5 was obtained.

The maximum point gamma is measured by the same method as the evaluation S described in Example 1, and Δp-γ (m
ax) was calculated and the obtained results are shown in Table 5.

[0149]

[Table 5]

<< Characteristic Evaluation of Each Sample >> Evaluation A, evaluation B and evaluation C were performed on the samples 201 to 207 produced as described above in the same manner as in Example 1.
The obtained results are shown in Table 6.

[0151]

[Table 6]

As is clear from Tables 5 and 6, in the samples satisfying the requirement of the present invention that the maximum point gamma in each color image forming layer is 3.6 to 5.0, the reproduction of the character outline is sharp. From the viewpoint, the p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that maximizes the maximum point gamma (p-γ (max)) and the p-value of the color image forming layer that minimizes the maximum point gamma (p-γ (max)).
-Γ (max) value difference (Δp-γ (max)) is 0.6
It was found that the samples satisfying the requirements of the present invention, which are the following, both have high scores in Evaluation C and can finish beautiful prints from the viewpoint that the color blur of the character outline is small. Particularly, the sample 206 and the sample 207 which satisfy both requirements at the same time are particularly preferable in view of stable variation in gradation due to small change in gradation due to change in exposure condition and change in time from exposure to development. It can be seen that it is.

Example 3 << Preparation of Samples 301 to 303 >> Sample 1 described in Example 1
In the preparation of No. 01, the silver halide emulsions (Em-B1), (Em-G1) and (Em-G1) of the first, third and fifth layers were prepared.
m-R1) chemical sensitization conditions (chemical sensitization temperature, time, additive addition timing, stabilizer addition amount) and the mixing ratio of silver halide emulsion are appropriately controlled, and a coupler of each color image forming layer is added. Samples 301 to 303 were prepared in the same manner except that the amount and the amount of silver halide were appropriately adjusted and changed so that the maximum point gamma as shown in Table 7 was obtained.

The effective gradation area and the maximum point gamma were obtained according to the evaluation S method described in the first embodiment.

[0155]

[Table 7]

<< Characteristic Evaluation of Each Sample >> Evaluation A, Evaluation B, and Evaluation C were performed on the samples 301 to 303 manufactured as described above in the same manner as in Example 1.
The results obtained are shown in Table 8.

[0157]

[Table 8]

As is clear from Table 8, the samples in which the value of VE / p-γ (max) in each color image forming layer is 0.16 or more and 0.21 or less has a sharp reproduction of the character outline. From ΔVE / p-γ (ma
It was found that the samples satisfying the requirement of the present invention that x) is 0.03 or less have a high score in the evaluation C and can finish a beautiful print from the viewpoint that the color blur of the character outline is small. In particular, the sample 303 satisfying both requirements at the same time is a particularly preferable embodiment from the viewpoint that the variation in gradation with respect to the change in exposure conditions and the change in time from exposure to development is small, and stable printing can be reproduced. I understand.

[0159]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention relates to a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material which is exposed and developed based on digital information to produce a color print, and an image forming method thereof.
Even when exposed by various digital exposure devices with different exposure light sources and exposure methods, the reproducibility of character images is improved, and prints with reduced uneven scanning of scene images can be stably reproduced. Furthermore, from exposure to development It was possible to provide a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material and an image forming method therefor capable of obtaining a stable print with little change in density even when the processing time until the change.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one yellow color image forming layer, a magenta color image forming layer and a cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide on a support. 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, the effective tone area of the color image obtained by color development processing (VE)
Is in the range of 0.65 or more and 0.84 or less in each color image forming layer. 2. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one yellow image forming layer, magenta image forming layer and cyan image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide on a support, 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, and VE value of a color image forming layer effective tone area of the color image obtained by color development processing (VE) is maximum, and minimum The difference (ΔVE) from the VE value of the color image forming layer is 0 or more and 0.08 or less. 3. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one yellow color image forming layer, magenta color image forming layer and cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide on a support. 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, and VE value of a color image forming layer effective tone area of the color image obtained by color development processing (VE) is maximum, and minimum 2. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to claim 1, wherein the difference (ΔVE) from the VE value of the color image forming layer is 0 or more and 0.08 or less. 4. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having, on a support, at least one yellow color image forming layer, one magenta color image forming layer and one cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide, 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, the maximum point gamma of the color image obtained by color development (p
-Γ (max)) is 3.6 or more and 5.0 or less for each color image forming layer, and a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material. 5. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one yellow color image forming layer, magenta color image forming layer and cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide on a support. 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, the maximum point gamma of the color image obtained by color development (p
P-γ of the color image forming layer that maximizes −γ (max)
(Max) value and p-γ (m
ax) value (Δp−γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.6
A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material characterized by the following. 6. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one yellow color image forming layer, magenta color image forming layer and cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide on a support. 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, the maximum point gamma of the color image obtained by color development (p
P-γ of the color image forming layer that maximizes −γ (max)
(Max) value and p-γ (m
ax) value (Δp−γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.6
5. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to claim 4, wherein: 7. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one yellow color image forming layer, one magenta color image forming layer and one cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide on a support. 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, color development processing to each color image forming layer obtained is, respectively the following formula 1
A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material characterized by satisfying the conditions of. Formula 1 0.16 ≦ VE / p−γ (max) ≦ 0.21 [In Formula 1, VE is the exposure time per pixel 10
^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less, after exposure, it represents the effective gradation area when color development processing is performed, p-γ (max)
Represents the maximum point gamma when the color development processing is performed after the exposure so that the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less. ] 8. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having at least one yellow color image forming layer, a magenta color image forming layer and a cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide on a support. 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, the color images obtained by color developing VE / p-γ (max)
VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that maximizes, and VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that minimizes
The difference from the value (ΔVE / p-γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.0
A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material characterized by being 3 or less. Note that VE has an exposure time of 10 per pixel.
^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less, after exposure, it represents the effective gradation area when color development processing is performed, p-γ (max)
Represents the maximum point gamma when the color development processing is performed after the exposure so that the exposure time per pixel is 10 ^-10 seconds or more and 10 ^-3 seconds or less. 9. A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having, on a support, at least one yellow color image forming layer, a magenta color image forming layer and a cyan color image forming layer each containing a photosensitive silver halide, 10 per pixel
^-10 seconds or more 10 ^- was exposed in ³ seconds or less exposure time, the color images obtained by color developing VE / p-γ (max)
VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that maximizes, and VE / p-γ (max) value of the color image forming layer that minimizes
The difference from the value (ΔVE / p-γ (max)) is 0 or more and 0.0
9. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to claim 8, which is 3 or less. 10. The silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to claim 1, wherein 10 pixels per pixel are added.
^-10 seconds to 10 ^-3 seconds or less after exposure,
An image forming method characterized by color development processing.