Projection imaging with the deep‐UV (193 nm) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) (157 nm) output of an excimer laser has been applied to submicrometer patterning of thin films by injected‐defect, surface‐chemical, and solid‐transformation processing. The methods have been designed to take advantage of the short‐wavelength, high‐peak‐intensity pulsed radiation from these sources. Examples are described of pattern definition by exposure of multilayer organic resists, by maskless etching and doping of solids in reactive vapors, and by solid‐state chemical transformations in inorganic Al/O films. Well‐resolved 0.4‐μm lines and spaces have been achieved. Required doses, between 0.04 and 1 J/cm2, are compatible with single‐ or multipulse step‐and‐repeat projection patterning with a small excimer laser.