flexographic printing plates are produced by exposing the photopolymer plates to a light source and washing out the masked out , non - exposed areas with a solvent . the invention provides substituted benzene solvents suitable for use in the development of photopolymer printing plates . the solvents , which include substituted benzene alone or mixed with co - solvents and / or non - solvents , are effective in developing a large number of different photopolymer printing plates and can produce images superior to those obtained with commercially available solvents currently used in such applications .