Flexographic printing plates are produced by exposing the photopolymer plates to a light source and washing out (developing) the masked out, non-exposed areas with a solvent. The invention provides substituted benzene solvents suitable for use in the development of photopolymer printing plates. The solvents, which include substituted benzene alone or mixed with co-solvents and/or non-solvents, are effective in developing a large number of different photopolymer printing plates and can produce images superior to those obtained with commercially available solvents currently used in such applications.