Abstract: A processed substrate which is adapted to be subjected to electroless plating with a conductive material to produce a metal-plated board for manufacturing a printed-wiring board having a wiring pattern formed of the conductive plating layer. The processed substrate comprises a metal oxide film consisting of fine particles of a reducible metal oxide which are distributed locally only on the surface of the insulating base. Portions of the fine particles are embedded in a skin layer of the insulating base and the remaining portions are exposed over the surface of the insulating base. The process of manufacturing the processed substrate comprises a step of depositing the metal oxide film in a physical vapor deposition process wherein the ionized metal oxide is bombarded onto the surface of the insulating base. The physical vapor deposition process may be a reactive deposition process, an-ion plating process or a sputtering process.