A technique of CO2 laser direct writing from solid film was proposed in this paper. Patterns of silver lines were locally deposited on the non-conductive substrate using a preset layer of silver compound solid film, which was irradiated by focused CO2 laser beam. The deposits were analyzed by XPS and EPMA. Results showed that metallic silver was dominant with an even distribution on the surface of the substrate, and part of the deposited silver had diffused into the substrate interior. The deposits had catalytic activity for the further electroless copper plating and had strong adhesion to the substrate. At last, the deposition mechanism and the dependence of the width of silver lines on the laser power and scan speed were roughly explored. © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.