Abstract: The magnetic writing head of the present invention includes a P2 pole tip having a novel profile. This profile, as viewed from the air bearing surface (ABS) can generally be described an hour glass shape in that the minimum width of the pole tip is disposed away from the base of the P2 pole tip. The negative profile results in a significant reduction in magnetic side writing that emanates from the write head. A novel method for producing the negative profiled pole tip involves control of the photoresist processing parameters and pole tip plating parameters. Specifically, the photoresist is baked at particular temperatures for particular periods of time, such that the cross linking within the photoresist is produced to the extent that the photoresist will controllably swell during the plating operation. The result is that as the P2 pole tip is plated, the photoresist swells to cause the negative profile along the thickness of the pole tip.