Recently, lignophenols have been obtained from lignin in wood-sources, and now, the establishment of their use as industrial materials is required. We tried to apply them to positive-type photoresists for printing and printed wiring boards, because they have the advantages of (1) good solublity in alkaline water, (2) sensitivity to UV irradiation and (3) resistance to heat. We used them instead of novolac resins in a novolac/ diazonaphthoquinone system photoresist, resulting in giving photoresists with high sensitivity and less side etching through adding 3-nuclei novolac compounds to lignophenols.