Abstract: An ink jet printhead and process for manufacturing same wherein an opening in an orifice plate of the printhead is precisely aligned with a transducer element on a thin film substrate member of the printhead. A barrier layer having an opening therein is aligned with the transducer element and is located on the thin film substrate member adjacent to a metal seed layer. A metal orifice layer is plated on the metal seed layer and over the barrier layer and extends into the opening therein to form a convergent orifice opening. This opening is aligned to both the opening in the barrier layer and the transducer element on the thin film substrate member. Since the transducer element and metal orifice plate layer are both precisely aligned to the opening in the barrier layer, the transducer element and the metal orifice layer are said to be "self-aligning".