TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The method comprises: depositing the inorganic thin film on the receiver substrate by atomic layer deposition; patterning the composition on the receiver substrate by thermal transfer from a donor element, which comprises a thermal transfer layer comprising the composition, and a radiation absorber using focused laser energy; patterning the deposition inhibitor material by thermal transfer on the receiver substrate from a donor element that comprises a radiation absorber, preferably an infrared radiation absorber in an intermediate layer between a thermal transfer layer comprising the deposition inhibitor material and donor substrate in the donor element; and coating the composition on the receiver substrate, followed by patterning the coated deposition inhibitor material by thermal ablation using a focused laser. The thin film is deposited using spatially dependant atomic layer deposition that comprises: providing a series of gas channels, each in contact with a discrete separate region of a receiver substrate, where each gas channel has a gas composition comprising at least a first reactive gaseous material, an inert purge gas, and a second reactive gaseous material and optionally repeating this sequence one or more times; and moving the receiver substrate relative to the gas channels that a portion of the receiver substrate comes into contact sequentially with at least two gas zones, where the first reactive gaseous material is capable of reacting with the receiver substrate surface that has been treated with the second reactive gaseous material to form the inorganic thin film. Preferred Components: The donor element and the receiver substrate are in direct contact or separated by up to 50 mu m. The polymer is present in an amount of at least 1-100 mole%. The deposited inorganic thin film: has an inhibition of at least 200 Angstrom ; and is either a metal or a metal containing compound. The receiver substrate comprises a moving web.