It has been shown by Photon Correlation Spectroscopy that when additional hardener is added to below saturation gel-grafted polymer particles, the gel layer shrinks due to hardening, as there is no free gel left in solution. In films, such case-hardened gelatin-grafted soft polymer particles can act as highly elastic stress absorbing fillers. This is because the dry case-hardened shell is expected to form a thin hard shell around the soft polymer particles. It is shown that gelatin-grafted soft polymer particles and case-hardened gelatin-grafted soft polymer particles, incorporated in the emulsion layers of pressure sensitive photographic products, produce coatings with highly reduced pressure sensitivity without any developability or delamination concerns. In this invention the case-hardened gelatin-grafted polymer particles are preferred over the simple gelatin-grafted material.