Abstract: Process for the maskless electroplating of selective areas of a dielectric substrate comprising depositing an electroconductive film on the surface, evaporating a narrow band of the film off the surface to expose a narrow strip of substrate surrounding a zone of the film where electroplating is unwanted, immersing the substrate in an electroplating bath opposite an appropriate anode, and cathodizing only that portion of the film that covers the region sought to be plated. In one embodiment a laser beam is used to selectively evaporate electroless copper from the surface of an ABS substrate.

Abstract: A process for providing a dielectric substrate with a composite surface comprising a metal plated portion side-by-side an unplated portion. The process includes: depositing a metallic film over the surface of the substrate; removing a narrow band of the film to electrically isolate one portion of the film from another; immersing the substrate in an electroplating bath capable of dissolving the film; cathodizing one of the film portions in the bath to electroplate that portion while the other portion dissolves therein to expose the underlying substrate. The thusly exposed substrate may subsequently be painted.