Reusable printing forms and thermal image setting on the printing forms is optimized in terms of performance. A method for manufacturing the printing form, in particular a rewritable printing form, having a thermally insulating layer, is distinguished by the fact that the thermally insulating layer is produced by the configuration of individual layers to form a layer sequence as a multilayer system. A printing form which is manufactured by the method according to the invention can have images set on it with a low power image setting device, as it is possible to effectively prevent heat from dissipating in an undesirably pronounced manner, for example into a metallic carrier.