Photoinduced ATRP is a controlled radical polymerization in the presence of UV/visible light and can be used to synthesize functional polymer materials which can control the molecular structure. The polymerization kinetics was studied by changing illumination time, intensity and frequency of the light source. The amount of transition metal catalyst in photo-induced ATRP polymerization is reduced to less than 100 μg/g, which makes industrial application of controlled free radical technology possible. In this paper, the research progress of direct/indirect light-induced atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is reviewed from the aspects of light source, catalyst, ligand and initiator.