Photographic element and process incorporating a high dye-yield image coupler providing improved granularity.

摘要

The invention provides a photographic element comprising a support bearing a light sensitive photographic silver halide emulsion layer wherein the layer has associated therewith a coupler capable of combining with oxidized developer to form a first dye, the coupler also containing a coupling-off group which is released during development to form a precursor of a second dye, the precursor having an electrically neutral dye chromophore bonded to a linking group selected form the group consisting of -OC(O)-, -OC(S)-, -SC(O)-, -SC(S)-, and -OC(=NSO2R)- where R is substituted or unsubstituted alkyl or aryl; wherein the amount of said coupler associated with the layer and the amount of silver in the layer is such that the molar ratio of the dye formable from the coupler to the silver contained in the layer is less than 1.0 and the silver and coupler levels are each below 1 g/m<2>; and further wherein the second dye has a calculated logarithm of its neutral partition coefficient (ClogP) in the range of 3.5 to 5.5. The invention also provides a method of forming an image in a photographic element of the invention.