Core geoprocessing tools for raster data

There are many tools available within ArcGIS that allow you to perform geoprocessing tasks with raster data. There are also many tools available with other ArcGIS extensions, such as ArcGIS 3D Analyst and ArcGIS Spatial Analyst.

Raster data management, properties, and processing

The Data Management toolbox contains tools to perform raster data management and processing. Most tools are grouped into raster-specific toolsets; however, some are grouped into function-specific toolsets. The table below directs you to the location for the raster-specific tools in the Data Management toolbox.

Toolsets	Description
Mosaic Dataset toolset	Contains tools to create and edit mosaic datasets. All tools in this toolset require an ArcEditor or ArcInfo product license.
Raster Catalog toolset	Contains tools to copy, create, edit, and delete raster catalogs and their items.
Raster Dataset toolset	Contains tools to create, copy, and mosaic raster datasets.
Raster Processing toolset	Contains tools to perform tasks to get your raster data in a workable form that makes it ready for analysis and display.
Raster Properties toolset	Contains tools to help you create, delete, or edit the various properties that may exist for a raster dataset.
Data Comparison toolset	Contains tools that allow you to compare one dataset with another dataset and report any similarities and differences, including the Raster Compare tool.
Layers and Table Views toolset	Contains tools to create layers, including a raster layer, raster catalog layer, image service layer, and WCS layer.
Projections and Transformations toolset	Contains general tools to define a projection and raster-specific tools to reproject or reorient rasters, such as warping and rotating.

This table provides an overview of the raster data management toolsets and tools.

Raster conversion

There are many core tools that allow you to convert from or to rasters. These are all contained within the Conversion toolbox.

Toolsets	Description
From Raster toolset	Contains tools to convert raster data into another format, such as an ASCII text file, a polygon feature class, or a video.
To Raster toolset	Contains tool to convert your data to a raster format. You can convert from a feature class or ASCII text file, or you can convert from one raster format to another. You can write to several raster formats, including TIFF, JPEG, or GRID or into a geodatabase.
To Geodatabase toolset	Contains the Raster To Geodatabase tool, which allows you to load many rasters into a geodatabase.

This table provides an overview of the tools used to convert raster data.