An area on a photoresist film which is formed on a substrate surface having a topography, is exposed a plurality of times in such a manner that the image plane of a mask pattern is formed at a plurality of positions which are spaced apart from a reference plane in the substrate in the direction of an optical axis, and then the photoresist film is developed to form a resist pattern. According to the above method, the effective focal depth of the projection aligner used is enhanced, and moreover the reduction of the image contrast at the photoresist film is very small by the plural exposure operations. Accordingly, a fine pattern can be formed accurately on the substrate surface having the topography.