Thin films of BaFCl:Eu with photostimulable luminescence (PSL) were grown by vapor deposition. For substrate temperatures at or below 350 °C, films were optically transparent and exhibited higher resolution in x-ray imaging than a commercial, particulate PSL phosphor screen, when luminescence was stimulated by scanning with a focused HeNe laser. Although post annealing films in a hydrogen atmosphere at 600–900 °C increased their PSL signal, which was relatively weak in as-deposited films, annealing reduced imaging resolution, apparently because of an increase in optical scattering of the focused laser. The implications of hydrogen annealing for the PSL mechanism are also discussed. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.