A method for identifying a relief precursor or a relief comprising a carrier and a relief-forming layer, having the steps:

a) providing a relief precursor comprising a carrier and a relief-forming layer;
b) providing data which identifies the type of relief precursor and, if appropriate, contains process-relevant data for processing it, in the form of at least one two-dimensional code;
c) introducing the at least one two-dimensional code into the relief-forming layer as a relief.