PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a silver halide color photosensitive material excellent in depiction of a high density portion, ensuring little blur of the thin lines of a character, etc., and capable of obtaining a print with a high contrast ratio in a short period of time, and to provide an image forming method. SOLUTION: In the method for forming a color image by digital-exposing and subsequently, developing the silver halide photographic sensitive material having a yellow developing layer, a magenta developing layer and a cyan developing layer, AgX contained in the yellow developing layer has an average grain diameter of 0.40-0.60 μm, gamma between the logarithm of exposure giving a density of 1.0 of the color image and that of exposure giving a density of 2.0 is 4.0-6.0, and a relationship of 0.0≤Y/X≤0.6 (1.0≤X≤2.0) is established between the density X of a maximumly exposed area at the time of exposure at 400 dpi and development and the minimum density Y of unexposed thin lines of one-pixel width drawn in the maximumly exposed area. COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI