A gravure printing element is fabricated using a negative-working thermally-imageable coating that is exposed using commercially available diode lasers, the coating being insensitive to ultraviolet light, daylight or visible light, and developable using aqueous media. A gravure etch mask is formed on a printing precursor by applying a coating of thermally-imageable material, curing the coating, imagewise illuminating the cured coating with a laser and removing with a developer the areas of the coating that were not illuminated. The masked precursor is then chemically etched to produce a gravure printing element.