A printing plate is produced by the steps of preparing sensitive layer-forming photosensitive composition containing an organic foaming agent and, upon drying of the composition, thermally decompose the organic foaming agent to roughen the surface of the photosensitive layer. The process in accordance with this invention requires no special mechanical treatment for forming the photosensitive layer, eliminates the need of rearrangement or modification of existing coating equipments and also drastically decreases a working time for vacuum-contact operation, thus resulting in an efficient fabrication of printing plate and a greatly reduced production cost.