An ultrafast x‐ray framing camera is being developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to be used as a diagnostic instrument in laser experiments. The framing camera is designed to provide temporal resolution of 50 ps and spatial resolution of 30 &mgr; at the image plane. The unique design incorporates the x‐ray photocathode directly into a suspended‐strip transmission line. The photocathode is gated using a high‐voltage (−5 kV) pulse of short duration generated with a photoconductive switch. The photoelectrons are extracted through an unbiased microchannel plate and are directly detected with a charge‐coupled device in the electron‐bombardment mode. We report on current progress in the fabrication, characterization, and integration of the various components of the instrument.