Positive process using a low coating weight silver halide

Claim 1

A process of forming an image in a photosensitive element that comprises a film support, a photosensitive silver halide layer, and an underlayer containing a chemically bleachable colorant selected from the group consisting of colloidal silver, colloidal mercury, colloidal palladium, colloidal copper, a copper film, a zinc film, a lead film, and a silver film; which process comprises: 1. imagewise exposing said photosensitive silver halide layer to actinic radiation, 2 developing the resulting latent image in said silver halide layer, 3. no sooner than step (2), treating said photosensitive element with a compound capable of generating sulfide ions under the conditions of treatment said compound selected from the group consisting of thiourea, substituted thioureas, mono-or di-N- substituted thioacetamides, dialkyl substituted dithiocarbamates, and 4. immersing said photosensitive element in a chemical bleach bath so as to chemically bleach the image in the silver halide layer and to bleach those areas of the colorant-containing layer which are under the image in the silver halide layer, leaving an image in those areas of the colorant-containing layer which are directly under the unexposed nonimage areas of the silver halide layer.