A photosensitive resin composition comprising an aromatic polyimide precursor, wherein a 10 &mgr;m thick layer of precursor has light transmittance at a wavelength of 365 nm of at least 1% and a 10 &mgr;m thick polyimide film made from the resin composition by imidation ring closure and deposited on a silicon substrate results in a residual stress of at most 25 MPa. The composition can be patterned through i-line exposure followed by development with alkaline solutions, and can be imidized into low-stress polyimide patterns. Electronic components having the polyimide patterns have high reliability.