The extended thin film evaporation is analyzed during the constant drying rate period. The extended thin film is defined as the liquid film which the disjoining pressure dominates the fluid flow field and works as the driving force of replenishing the evaporating liquid. The results of the analysis show that the extended thin film evaporation can compensate the reduction of evaporation rate due to the increase of dry spots and keep the evaporation rate nearly constant. Experimental data in the literature are in good agreement with the results of this work. This implies that the extended thin film evaporation may be an important part of the mechanism for drying.