US3873321A

US3873321A - Process for producing support for use in photographic material

Info

Publication number: US3873321A
Application number: US353817A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sumitaka Tatsuta; Wataru Ueno
Original assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd
Current assignee: Fujifilm Holdings Corp
Priority date: 1972-04-21
Filing date: 1973-04-23
Publication date: 1975-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 1992-03-25
Also published as: DE2319701A1; JPS493619A; JPS555104B2; GB1400891A

Abstract

A support for use in photographic materials which is not subject to excessive curling and which has a back side which can be written on is produced by a process which comprises contacting one side of a polystyrene film containing dispersed white pigment with a first liquid which strongly swells or dissolves the polystyrene, contacting the other side of the polystyrene film with a mixed solution of a second liquid which swells or dissolves the polystyrene greater than the first liquid and a third liquid which has almost no ability to swell or dissolve polystyrene and then drying the polystyrene film to remove the liquids. The surface treated with the first liquid is generally to be coated with a photographic emulsion, the surface treated with the mixed solution can be written upon.

Description

United States Patent 1 Tatsuta et al.

[451 Mar. 25, 1975 [75] Inventors: Sumitaka Tatsuta; Wataru Ueno,

both of Kanagawa, Japan [73} Assignee: Fuji PhotoFilm C0,, Ltd.,

Kanagawa, Japan [22] Filed: Apr. 23, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 353,817

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 21, 1972 Japan 47-40206 [52] US. Cl 96/87 R, 117/34, 117/47 A [51] Int. Cl G03c l/78, B44d U092 [58] Field of Search 96/87 R; 117/47 A, 34

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.957.791 10/1960 Bechtold 96/87 R 3.515.567 6/1970 Tani et al ll7/47 A 3.704.154 ll/1972 Tatsuta et al. 96/87 R 3,709,691 l/l973 Tani et al ll7/47 A Primary Examiner-Mary F. Kelley Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A support for use in photographic materials which is not subject to excessive curling and which has a back side which can be written on is produced by a process which comprises contacting one side of a polystyrene film containing dispersed white pigment with a first liquid which strongly swells or dissolves the polystyrene, contacting the other side of the polystyrene film with a mixed solution of a second liquid which swells or dissolves the polystyrene greater than the first liquid and a third liquid which has almost no ability to swell or dissolve polystyrene and then drying the polystyrene film to remove the liquids. The surface treated with the first liquid is generally to be coated with a photographic emulsion, the surface treated with the mixed solution can be written upon.

10 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SUPPORT FOR USE IN PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process for producing a support for use in a photographic material and, more particularly, to a novel support for use in a photographic printing material which is excellent in water resistance and curl balance.

2. Description of the Prior Art A film produced by an extrusion method commonly practiced in the plastics industry using as a starting material a composition comprising a polystyrene resin and a white pigment dispersed therein, which may be or uniaxially or biaxially drawn, has, in general, extremely poor surface gloss. Therefore, when a photographic light-sensitive layer is applied to the surface of such a film to prepare a photographic light-sensitive material and a photographic image is formed in the photographic light-sensitive layer according to usual photographic methods (photographic printing) a glossy, beautiful photographic image cannot be obtained.

The inventors previously suggested a process for producing a water-proof support for use in a photographic material which comprises contacting the surface of a polystyrene resin film containing dispersed therein a white pigment with an organic solvent which exhibits a strong swelling or dissolving action on the resin and drying the thus treated film to impart excellent gloss to the support. The surface of the support is then coated with a photographic emulsion layer to prepare a photographic material having excellent gloss and high photographic resolving power.

However, where only one side of a polystyrene film is brought into contact with an organic solvent according to the above-described process the film undergoes severe curling with the progress of drying, with a concave bending toward the solvent-treated side, which makes the handling of the film difficult in the-production thereof and lowers its commercial value.

In order to avoid such a curling phenomenon, one can treat both sides of the support under the same conditions. However, though such treatment renders the contraction of both sides of the support well balanced and no curling appears, both sides of the support are rendered glossy by the treatment resulting in the loss of the writing property, printing property, pasting property and like properties required of the back side. Furthermore, in a support for a photographic material it is more desirable that the support itself be a little curled or convex with respect to the surface thereof rather than the support be completely planar.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As a result ofextensive investigations to obtain a support for a photographic material which solves the problems encountered in the prior art, the inventors reached the present invention which is a process for producing a support for a photographic material which comprises the step of contacting one side of a polystyrene resin l'ilm containing dispersed therein a white pigment with a first liquid having a strong power to swell or dissolve the polystyrene resin; contacting the other side of the polystyrene resin with a mixed solution consisting of a second liquid having a stronger power to swell or dissolve the polystyrene resin than the first liquid and a third liquid having no or an extremely low power to swell or dissolve the polystyrene resin; and drying the film to remove the liquids used in the foregoing steps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The drawing is a plot to determine swelling power.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In general, no undue criticality is attached to the selection of any particular polystyrene or copolymer thereof so long as the polystyrene illustrates the excellent film-forming and physical properties attributable to polystyrene. In this regard, polystyrene copolymers may freely be used so long as the essential physical properties achieved by using styrene homopolymers are not lost.

The polystyrene resin used in the present invention includes copolymers of styrene and a copolymerizable monomer(s) as well homopolymers of styrene. As the styrene there are used styrene and substituted styrenes such as alpha-methylstyrene.

Illustrative of the comonomers copolymerizable with the styrene are acrylonitrile, butadiene, methyl methacrylate, ethylene, propylene, vinyl acetate, and the like. Styrene homopolymer or copolymers can be obtained by polymerizing styrene or copolymerizing styrene with two or more of the above-described compounds. Specific examples of polymers containing styrene as a component (styrene is not necessarily contained in the polymer in the largest amount over other components though such is often preferred, and it is often the case that styrene is 50 mol or greater of the styrene copolymer) are a styrene homopolymer, impact resistant polystyrene, an acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer, an acrylonitrile-styrene-butadiene copolymer, a methylme thacrylic ester-styrene copolymer, an a-methylstyrene homopolymer and like a-methylstyrene copolymers. In producing supports used in the present invention, at least one member of the above polystyrene resin can be used. These polystyrene resins generally have an average molecular weight in the range of from about 80,000 to about 500,000.

The polystyrene resins used in the present invention include a polystyrene resin alone as defined above and a mixture comprising such a polystyrene resin and other synthetic resins. The above mixture preferably contains the polystyrene resin predominantly, for example, mixtures comprising about 3 to about part, preferably, about 5 to about 50 parts by weight of synthetic resins other than polystyrene resin per parts by weight of the polystyrene resin are desirable. The synthetic resinswhich can be used as a mixture with the polystyrene resin include ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, ethylene-acrylic ester copolymers, ethylenemethacrylic acid ionomers, ethylene-acrylic acid ionomers, butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers, ethylenepropylene copolymers, natural rubbers, synthetic isoprene rubbers, butadiene rubbers, styrene-butadiene rubbers, high-styrene content rubbers, polybutadienes, chloroprene rubbers, polybutenes, butyl rubbers and nitrile rubbers. These synthetic resins can be used alone or as combinations of two or more thereof.

In the present invention, the resin blends containing polystyrene resin as a main component can be used as a support because the support of materials as described above is suitable for a photographic support due to its toughness. which is almost the same as that of a base paper. considering a conventional photographic paper having a thickness on the order of from 100 to 300p. The other various synthetic resins as enumerated above can be added to the polystyrene resin in order to improve the moldability and the tear strength and to adjust the toughness or the feel. Thus, the other synthetic resins incorporated into the polystyrene resin are generally thermoplastic polymers having a relatively high elasticity.

The fine powder of white pigment(s) incorporated into the above resin(s) are used for obtaining whiteness and a masking effect desirable for the support of photographic material.

Examples of the white pigment used in the polystyrene resin include titanium dioxide, zinc white, barium sulfate, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, barium carbonate, lithopone, alumina white, etc., which may be used alone or as combination of two or more thereof. A preferred white pigment is titanium dioxide, in particular, titanium oxide having a rutile-type structure. Any white pigment can be used in the present invention so long as it provides sufficient coloration to render the polystyrene light and is not dissolved and does not harmfully react with any of the treating liquids. The phenomona of pigment loading is essentially a physical one, and no undue criticality is attached to the selection of any particular white pigment, for instance, the pigments need not be inorganic, though they commonly are, if they meet the above criteria. All are used as fine powders having a mean grain size of 0.05 10 microns, preferably less than 1.5 microns and most preferably less than 1 micron. White pigments having an average grain size of less than 1 micron are particularly preferred since they generally provide a sheet having smooth surfaces when incorporated into the polystyrene resin used in the present invention. The white pigments are dispersed in the aforesaid polystyrene resin in a proportion of 2 40 /1, preferably 5 to 30% by weight based on the polystyrene resin. The dispersion may be effected by any known method. However, it appears to be the most general method in this art to mix the white pigment with a powdery polystyrene resin and mold it into pellets while kneading with an extruder. Usually. a sheet is formed by extrusion using the resulting pellets as the starting material. However, a film may also be formed directly (i.e., without molding pellets) by feeding the powdery composition into a film-forming machine equipped with a kneading mechanism. Other film-forming process using as the starting material the powdery composition, are known, and any of them may be selected and utilized.

The thickness of the polystyrene resin film intended in the invention is in the range of from about 50 to about 350 microns. preferably from about 100 to about 300 microns, but is not limited only to this range.

In the present invention, one side of the abovedcscribcd polystyrene resin film is brought into contact with a first liquid strongly swelling or dissolving the polystyrene resin. The term swelling power as is used herein to define this phenomenon is evaluated as follows.

When the square root'of the time of immersing a polystyrene film sample having a definite surface area (this means all samples being compared should have the same surface area) in a solvent in question is plotted as the abscissa and the weight of the solvent penetrated into the sample is plotted as the ordinate, an almost straight line results. The slope of this line is regarded as the power of the solvent to swell the polystyrene resin, Such a plot is shown in the drawing.

The term strong swelling power as is used herein means a swelling power corresponding to a slope larger than that of methyl isobutyl ketone. As the major component of the first liquid having such property, there are, in order of decreasing strength of swelling power, methylene dichloride, trichloroethylene, chloroform, ethylene dichloride, carbon tetrachloride, tetrachloroethane, benzene, methyl acetate, toluene, ethyl acetate, xylene, methyl ethyl ketone, solvent naphtha and the like.

The first liquid is a single-component liquid or a liquid composition containing at least the abovedescribed organic solvent having the power to swell or dissolve the polystyrene resin used. The essential criterion which must be met in such a liquid composition is that the composition have a swelling power less than the second liquid and greater than the third liquid. While not limitative, generally a single first liquid as de scribed above will be the major component of such a system, i.e., more than 50 volume 70, preferably more than volume 70.

Various coating techniques can be used to contact the resin with the first liquid, such as impregnationcoating, beadcoating, spray-coating, etc., all of which are conducted in the same manner as has heretofore been used in any. The contacting is effected to the extent that there is observed a swelling or dissolution of the surface of the polystyrene resin film. The support, when dried, will have a surface of a beautiful gloss.

As will be clear from the present specification, the first, second and third liquids can be freely selected from a wide range of materials so long as they meet the relative swelling power criteria defined, i.e. in order of decreasing swelling power for polystyrene second liquid, first liquid, third liquid, with the third liquid most preferably being a non-solvent or substantial nonsolvent for polystyrene. By substantial non-solvent" is meant that if polystyrene is contacted with the third liquid per se no swelling is observable during contact times as are used in the present invention. At the same time, any second liquid which exhibits a stronger swelling power than the first liquid can be used, with better results being obtained the greater the difference in swelling power between the first liquid and second liquid.

Subsequently, the opposite side of the polystyrene resin film to the treated side is brought into contact with a mixed solution consisting of the earlier described second liquid and third liquid. When treated with such a mixed solution, the treated surface becomes a coarse surface having a fine roughness. Surprisingly enough, the phenomenon of forming a coarse surface does not vary so much in the end over a wide compositional range for the mixed solution (i.e., roughly speaking, over the range of the ration of the third liquid/(the second liquid the third liquid) of several to several ten 70). This means that the second liquid is generally admixed in an amount more than the amount of third liquid, and the effects of the mixture are obtained over a wide range, most preferably 2-30 volume of the second liquid, though this upper value is not limitative. The second liquid is a liquid having a stronger power to swell 0r dissolve polystyrene resin than the first liquid. The third liquid is a liquid having no or an extremely small power to swell or dissolve the polystyrene resin. Therefore, these second and third liquids are selected depending upon the particular polystyrene resing and the first liquid used.

Several preferable combinations thereof are illustrated below.

First liquid Second liquid/third liquid (at) Methyl ethyl ketone (at) Methylene dichloride/ methanol do. Methylene dichloride/ cyclohexanc do. Trichlene/methanol do. Trichlene/cyclohexane do. Benzene/methanol (b) Ethyl acetate (b) Ethylene dichloride/ methanol do. Chloroform/methanol do. Trichlene/methanol do. Methylene dichloride] methanol do. Toluene/methanol (c) Ethylene dichloride (c) Trichlene/methanol do. Methylene dichloride/ methanol do. Methylene dichloride/ acetone do. Methylene dichloride/ cyclohexane (d) Benzene (d) Carbon tetrachloride/ methanol do. Methylene dichloride/ methanol do. Chloroformlmethanol do. "lrichlene/methanol do. Methylene dichloride/ methanol do. Methylene dichloride/ acetone do. Trichlene/acetone do. Trichlene/cyclohexane The polystyrene resin film is brought into contact with the mixed solution in the same manner as in the case of contacting the polystyrene resin film with the first liquid. In the abovedescribed process, the mixing ratio of the strong solvent to the non-solvent in the mixed solution to be brought into contact with the side not to be coated with a photographic emulsion (i.e., the back side) should be properly adjusted depending upon the kind of the solvent to be contacted with the side to be coated with a photographic emulsion, the thickness of a gelatin-containing photographic emulsion layer to be coated thereon and the curling degree desired in the complete product. 7

In general. the tendency of curling in a concave state toward the backside increases almost in proportion to the concentration of the strong solvent in the mixed solution contacted with the back side of the film. Therefore, any desirable curling degree can be experimentally obtained with ease by suitable changing the mixing ratio.

Either of the steps of contacting each side of the polystyrene resin film with the liquid may be firstly conducted, or both treatments may be conducted at the same time. In addition, each treatment may be conducted in one step or in two or more steps. With respect to the above-described first liquid and the mixed solution, the resin film may be contacted one by one with several kinds of liquids belonging to the category of the same type that of the respective liquids. Such embodiments can easily be designed by the one skilled in the art, and the present invention includes all of such embodiments, for example, if the first liquid is A(for example A ,A the second liquid is B (for example 8,, 8 and the third liquid is C (for example, C C one could practice A treatment (B C treatment; (B, C treatment A, treatment; A, treatment A treatment (B C treatment (B C treatment; A, treatment (B C treatment A treatment 31 (B C treatment, etc.

There is no particular criticality on the conditions of the treatments insofar as temperature or pressure are concerned, but one should avoid extreme temperatures which will damage the polystyrene. Operation at atmospheric is generally used, but sub-or superatmopheric pressures can be used if desired.

As will be clear from the Examples, the time of contact is not overly critical, and generally the liquid is merely applied and then allowed to evaporate naturally or by heating. The exact time is best empirically selected and this is done, usually, merely by varying temperature of contact for a few process runs until a desired product is obtained.

After conducting the above-described steps, the polystyrene resin film is subjected to a drying step. It is preferred toeffect drying so that the liquids used in the preceding two steps areremoved as completely as possible. In addition, there is no problem when the drying is conducted to the extent that the polystyrene support itself is not softened, e.g., usually at a temperature less than C.

Thus, by using the mixed solvent according to the process of the invention, fine roughness is formed on the back surface of the polystyrene resin film, whereby the back surface is provided with good writing printing and adhesion capability, and there can be obtained an optional curling without widely changing the abovedescribed capabilities.

The present invention will now be illustrated in greater detail by several examples. The curling values in the examples are defined as follows. A curling value of 0 means that the film is planar with no curling. Curling in a convex form with respect to the photographic emulsion-coated side or the side to be coated with the photographic emulsion is evaluated as a curling, whereas curling in a concave form is evaluated as a curling. The curling degree is rated in each case by 5 grades, which is regarded as the curling value. The greater the numerical number, the greater the curling degree.

In addition to the synthetic resins other than the polystyrene resin and the white pigments, the support prepared by the process of this invention may contain various additives such as a placticizer, a stabilizer, a nonwhite pigment coloring material, an antistatic agent, a lubricant, a fluorescent dye, an antioxidant, an ultraviolet ray absorbing agent, a filler (clay, etc. and the like. The support can be prepared by melt-blending the white pigment and other optional additives with the resin components at a temperature above the melting point. of the resin components to uniformly disperse the fine powder component(s) in the resin component(s) and molding the resulting molten mixture into a sheet.

Various procedures are well known in the art for producing such a sheet, but in a preferred embodiment, the composition comprising the fine powder component(s) and the resin component(s) is charged into an extruder with or without previous mixing in a mixer such as Henschel mixer, and the extruded sheet is polished while cooling by passing through polishing rolls having a roll surface temperature below 100 C, or the above composition is thoroughly mixed in a mixer such as a Banbury mixer, a mixing roll, an extruding mixer, etc., and the molten composition is then passed through a calender roll to prepare the desired sheet. As previously described, the thickness of the sheet is generally in the range of from about 50 to about 350 microns. preferably from about 100 to about 300 mi crons, but it may be freely adjusted depending upon the specific utility ofthe final photographic materials produced thereof.

EXAMPLE 1 parts by weight of titanium dioxide fine powder (size less than l.5,u) was kneaded with 100 parts by weight of a commercially available impact-resistant polystyrene resin (M.W., in the range 80,000 500,000) extruded into a sheet and drawn 2.5 times both in the longitudinal direction and in the transverse direction to produce a film 200 microns in thickness. The curling value ofthe resulting film was Zero.

On side of the thus produced polystyrene resin film was wetted with methyl ethyl ketone and dried at a temperature of 80 C. The treated surface of the obtained film had a remarkable gloss and had a curling value of +5.

Five samples were prepared from the resulting film, and the back side of each of the samples was similarly treated with a mixed solution of methylene dichloride and methanol in a mixing ratio as is given in the following table. The curling value ofthe samples and the state of the back side thereof were as given in the following table.

From the results shown in the above table, it can be seen that the curling value of the first liquid-treated film was reduced in every sample by the treatment with the second solution and the solution-treated surface was rendered coarse to the extent that the writing property with a pencil was good.

However, where the content of methylene dichloride (which has the property of dissolving the polystyrene resin) in the composition of the mixed solution was large as in Sample 1 it was observed that though the treated surface was rendered coarse the degree of coarseness was low and the writing property with a pencil was degraded.

Onto the surface of Sample 2 there was applied a silver halide photographic emulsion having the following composition, and dried.

Composition of the silver halide photographic emulsion: (amount coated per 1 m of the film) Silver chlorobromide Gelatin (binder) Formalin (hardener Saponin (wetting agent for coating Water to make The curling value of the obtained photographic lightsensitive material was zero.

EXAMPLE 2 Ethyl acetate was applied to one side of the titanium dioxide containing polysytrene resin film used in Example l and the sample air-dried.The curling value of the thus obtained film was +5.

On the other hand, after coating the back side of the film with a mixed solution of tetrahydrofuran/methanol (4:1 in volume ratio) and drying it at C for 5 minutes the surface was in turn coated with ethyl acetate under the same condition as above and then air-dried. The curling value of thus obtained polystyrene resin film was l with the back side being rendered properly coarse. The writing property thereof with a pencil was good.

EXAMPLE 3 Ten parts by weight of titanium dioxide as in Example l and 5 parts by weight of calcium carbonate of a size less than 1.5a were mixed and kneaded with 100 parts by weight ofa commercially available polystyrene resin (M.W. in the range of 80,000 500,000) and formed into a sheet by and extruder equipped with a T-die. The resulting sheet was drawn 2.5 times in the longitudinal direction (i.e., extruding direction) and 2 times in the transverse direction to obtain a polystyrene resin film 250 microns thick. When one side of the film was coated with n-butyl acetate and dried at 30 C the treated surface had a remarkable gloss and the film had a curling value of +4.

When the back side of the thus treated film was coated with a mixed solution of ethylene dichloride/ethanol (4:1 in volume ratio) and dried at C, the curling value of the obtained polystyrene resin film was l. The writing property of the back side was extremely good.

While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A process for producing a support for use in a photographic material, which consists essentially of the steps of (a) contacting one side of a polystyrene resin film containing dispersed therein a white pigment with a first liquid composition comprising a first liquid having a swelling power greater than that of methyl isobutyl ketone and capable of swelling or dissolving said polystyrene resin and producing an excellent gloss on said one side when dried; (b)contacting the other side of said polystyrene resin film with a mixed solution consisting of a second liquid having a stronger power of swelling or dissolving said polystyrene resin than the power of the first liquid composition of swelling or dissolving said polystyrene resin and a third liquid having no or an extremely small power of swelling or dis solving said polystyrene resin film and a smaller power of swelling or dissolving said polystyrene film than the power of said first liquid composition, said solution being capable of producing a coarse surface having a line roughness on said other side; and drying the film to remove the liquid, where step (a) and (b) may be performed in any desired sequence, and drying may follow step (a), step (b) or both of steps (a) and (b).

2. The process of claim 1 where the first liquid is (a) methyl ethyl ketone, (b) ethyl acetate, (c) ethylene di chloride or (d) benzene, matched paired with a second liquid/third liquid combination as follows:

Methylene dichloride/methanol Methyl ethyl ketone (21) do. Methylene dichloride/cyclohexane 10 3. The process of claim 1 where the pigment has a mean grain size of 0.05 l0,u and is present in an amount of 24071 by weight based on the polystyrene resin.

4. The process of claim 1 where the polystyrene resin is:

a. a polystyrene homopolymer b. a polystyrene copolymer c. a blend of(a) or (b) with another resin, comprising 3 to about parts of said another resin per parts of (a) or (b), by weight.

5. The process of claim 4 where the polystyrene resin has a molecular weight of from about 80,000 to about 500,000.

6. The process of claim 5 where the polystyrene copolymer comprises at least 50 mol styrene.

7. The process of claim 3 where the pigment is titanium dioxide.

8. A support produced by the process of claim 1.

9. The support of claim 8 coated with a silver halide emulsion layer.

10. The process of claim 4, wherein said another resin is at least one member chosen from the group consisting of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, ethylene-acrylic ester copolymers, ethylene-methacrylic acid ionomers, ethylene-acrylic acid ionomers, butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers, ethylene-propylene copolymers, natural rubbers, synthetic isoprene rubbers, butadiene rubbers, styrene-butadiene rubbers, highstyrene content rubbers, polybutadienes, chloroprene rubbers, polybutenes, butyl rubbers and nitrile rubbers. l= l

Claims

1. A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A SUPPORT FOR USE IN A PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL, WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF THE STEPS OF (A) CONTACTING ONE SIDE OF A POLYSTYRENE RESIN FILM CONTAINING DISPERSED THEREIN A WHITE PIGMENT WITH A FIRST LIQUID COMPOSITION COMPRISING A FIRST LIQUID HAVING A SWELLING POWER GREATER THAN THAT OF METHYL ISOBUTYL KETONE AND CAPABLE OF SWELLING OR DISSOLVING SAID POLYSTYRENE RESIN AND PRODUCING AN EXCELLENT GLOSS ON SAID ONE SIDE WHEN DIRED, (B)CONTACTING THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID POLYSTYRENE RESIN FILM WITH A MIXED SOLUTION CONSISTING OF A SECOND LIQUID HAVING A STRONGER POWER OF SWELLING OR DISSOLVING SAID POLYSTYRENE RESIN THAN THE POWER OF THE FIRST LIQUID COMPOSITION OF SWELLING OR DISSOLVING SAID POLYSTYRENE RESIN AND A THIRD LIQUID HAVING NO OR AN EXTREMELY SMALL POWER OF SWELLING OR DISSOLVING SAID POLYSTYRENE RESIN FILM AND A SMALLER POWER OF SWELLING OR DISSOLVING SAID POLYSTYRENE FILM THAN THE POWER OF SAID FIRST LIQUID COMPOSITION, SAID SOLUTION BEING CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A COARE SURFACE HAVING A FINE ROUGHNESS ON SAID OTHER SIDE, AND DRYING THE FILM TO REMOVE THE LIQUID, WHERE STEP, (A) AND (B) MAY BE PERFORMED IN ANY DESIRED SEQUENCE, AND DRYING MAY FOLLOW STEP (A), STEP (B) OR BOTH OF STEPS (A) AND (B).

2. The process of claim 1 where the first liquid is (a) methyl ethyl ketone, (b) ethyl acetate, (c) ethylene dichloride or (d) benzene, matched paired with a second liquid/third liquid combination as follows:

3. The process of claim 1 where the pigment has a mean grain size of 0.05 - 10 Mu and is present in an amount of 2-40% by weight based on the polystyrene resin.

4. The process of claim 1 where the polystyrene resin is: a. a polystyrene homopolymer b. a polystyrene copolymer c. a blend of (a) or (b) with another resin, comprising 3 to about 70 parts of said another resin per 100 parts of (a) or (b), by weight.

6. The process of claim 5 where the polystyrene copolymer comprises at least 50 mol % styrene.

7. The process of claim 3 where the pigment is titanium dioxide.

8. A SUPPORT PRODUCED BY THE PROCESS OF CLAIM 1.

9. THE SUPPORT OF CLAIM 8 COATED WITH A SILVER HALIDE EMULSION LAYER.

10. The process of claim 4, wherein said another resin is at least one member chosen from the group consisting of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, ethylene-acrylic ester copolymers, ethylene-methacrylic acid ionomers, ethylene-acrylic acid ionomers, butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers, ethylene-propylene copolymers, natural rubbers, synthetic isoprene rubbers, butadiene rubbers, styrene-butadiene rubbers, high-styrene content rubbers, polybutadienes, chloroprene rubbers, polybutenes, butyl rubbers and nitrile rubbers.