GDAL-VECTOR-RASTERIZE(1)

NAME
gdal-vector-rasterize - Burn vector geometries into a raster

Added in version 3.11.

SYNOPSIS

    Usage: gdal vector rasterize [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>
    Burns vector geometries into a raster.
    Positional arguments:
      -i, --input <INPUT>                                      Input vector datasets [required]
      -o, --output <OUTPUT>                                    Output raster dataset [required]
    Common Options:
      -h, --help                                               Display help message and exit
      --json-usage                                             Display usage as JSON document and exit
      --config <KEY>=<VALUE>                                   Configuration option [may be repeated]
      -q, --quiet                                              Quiet mode (no progress bar or warning message) [not available in pipelines]
    Options:
      -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>      Output format
      --co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE>                    Creation option [may be repeated]
      --overwrite                                              Whether overwriting existing output dataset is allowed
      -b, --band <BAND>                                        The band(s) to burn values into (1-based index) [may be repeated]
      --invert                                                 Invert the rasterization
      --all-touched                                            Enables the ALL_TOUCHED rasterization option
      --burn <BURN>                                            Burn value [may be repeated]
      -a, --attribute-name <ATTRIBUTE-NAME>                    Attribute name
      --3d                                                     Indicates that a burn value should be extracted from the Z values of the feature
      -l, --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER>                          Input layer name
                                                               Mutually exclusive with --sql
      --where <WHERE>                                          SQL where clause
      --sql <SQL>                                              SQL select statement
                                                               Mutually exclusive with --input-layer
      --dialect <DIALECT>                                      SQL dialect
      --nodata <NODATA>                                        Assign a specified nodata value to output bands
      --init <INIT>                                            Pre-initialize output bands with specified value [may be repeated]
      --crs <CRS>                                              Override the projection for the output file
      --transformer-option <NAME>=<VALUE>                      Set a transformer option suitable to pass to GDALCreateGenImgProjTransformer2 [may be repeated]
      --extent <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>                     Set the target georeferenced extent [4 values]
      --resolution <xres>,<yres>                               Set the target resolution [2 values]
                                                               Mutually exclusive with --size
      --tap, --target-aligned-pixels                           (target aligned pixels) Align the coordinates of the extent of the output file to the values of the resolution
                                                               Depends on --resolution
      --size <xsize>,<ysize>                                   Set the target size in pixels and lines [2 values]
                                                               Mutually exclusive with --resolution
      --ot, --datatype, --output-data-type <OUTPUT-DATA-TYPE>  Output data type. OUTPUT-DATA-TYPE=UInt8|Int8|UInt16|Int16|UInt32|Int32|UInt64|Int64|CInt16|CInt32|Float16|Float32|Float64|CFloat32|CFloat64
      --optimization <OPTIMIZATION>                            Force the algorithm used (results are identical). OPTIMIZATION=AUTO|RASTER|VECTOR (default: AUTO)
      --add                                                    Add to existing raster
      --update                                                 Whether to open existing dataset in update mode
    Advanced Options:
      --oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE>                        Open options [may be repeated]
      --if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT>                      Input formats [may be repeated]

DESCRIPTION

gdal vector rasterize burns vector geometries into a raster.

By default (unless --update or --add) is specified, a new raster is created with a specified resolution (--resolution) or size (--size). Pixel values will either be set to a constant (the value 1, or some other value specified with --burn), the Z value of feature geometries (with --3d), or the value of a field specified with --attribute-name.

The left figure illustrates the default rasterization behavior, where only pixels on the line render path are included.

The right figure shows the effect of --all-touched, where every pixel that touches the input polygons is included.

Since GDAL 3.12, this algorithm can be part of a gdal pipeline.

The following options are available:

Added in version 3.12.

GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET)

This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file using the GDALG output format. The resulting file can then be opened as a raster dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver, and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way.

NOTE: However this algorithm is not natively streaming compatible. Consequently a temporary dataset will be generated, which may cause significant processing time at opening.

PROGRAM-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

--3d
    Indicates that a burn value should be extracted from the "Z" values of the feature. Works with points and lines (linear interpolation along each segment). For polygons, works properly only if they are flat (same Z value for all vertices).

--add
    Instead of burning a new value, this adds the new value to the existing raster, implies --update. Suitable for heatmaps for instance.

--all-touched
    Enables the ALL_TOUCHED rasterization option.

    NOTE: When this option is enabled, the order of the input features (lines or polygons) can affect the results. When two features touch each other, the last one (i.e. topmost) will determine the burned pixel value at the edge. You may wish to use the --sql option to reorder the features (ORDER BY) to achieve a more predictable result.

-a, --attribute-name <ATTRIBUTE-NAME>
    Name of the attribute / field from which a burn value should be retrieved for each feature. GDAL will attempt to parse the field value as a number. If this is not successful, a value of zero will be written.

--band, -b <BAND>
    The band(s) to burn values into. May be repeated.

--burn <BURN>
    Burn value. May be repeated.

--crs <CRS>
    Override the projection for the output file. If not specified, the projection of the input vector file will be used if available. When using this option, no reprojection of features from the CRS of the input vector to the specified CRS of the output raster, so use only this option to correct an invalid source CRS. The <CRS> may be any of the usual GDAL/OGR forms, complete WKT, PROJ.4, EPSG:n or a file containing the WKT.

--extent <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>
    Set georeferenced extents. The values must be expressed in georeferenced units. If not specified, the extent of the output file will be the extent of the vector layers.

--init <INIT>
    Pre-initialize output bands with specified value. May be repeated.

-l, --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER>
    Indicates the layer(s) from the datasource that will be used for input features. May be specified multiple times, but at least one layer name or a -sql option must be specified (not both).

--invert
    Invert rasterization. Burn the fixed burn value, or the burn value associated with the first feature into all parts of the image not inside the provided polygon.

    NOTE: When the vector features contain a polygon nested within another polygon (like an island in a lake), GDAL must be built against GEOS to get correct results.

--nodata <NODATA>
    Assign a specified nodata value to output bands.

--optimization <OPTIMIZATION>
    Force the algorithm used (results are identical). The raster mode is used in most cases and optimise read/write operations. The vector mode is useful with a decent amount of input features and optimise the CPU use. That mode have to be used with tiled images to be efficient. The auto mode (the default) will chose the algorithm based on input and output properties.

--ot, --datatype, --output-data-type <OUTPUT-DATA-TYPE>
    Force the output bands to be of the indicated data type. Defaults to Float64, unless the attribute field to burn is of type Int64, in which case Int64 is used for the output raster data type if the output driver supports it.

--resolution <xres>,<yres>
    Set target resolution. The values must be expressed in georeferenced units. Both must be positive values. Note that --resolution cannot be used with --size.

--size <xsize>,<ysize>
    Set output file size in pixels and lines. Note that --size cannot be used with --resolution. If one of the two values is set to 0, it will be computed from the other value in order to preserve the aspect ratio of the extent.

--sql <SQL>|@<filename>
    An SQL statement to be evaluated against the datasource to produce a virtual layer of features to be burned in. The @filename syntax can be used to indicate that the content is in the pointed filename.

--dialect <DIALECT>
    SQL dialect.

    By default the native SQL of an RDBMS is used when using gdal vector sql. If using sql as a step of gdal vector pipeline, this is only true if the step preceding sql is read, otherwise the OGRSQL dialect is used.

    If a datasource does not support SQL natively, the default is to use the OGRSQL dialect, which can also be specified with any data source.

    The SQL SQLite dialect dialect can be chosen with the SQLITE and INDIRECT_SQLITE dialect values, and this can be used with any data source. Overriding the default dialect may be beneficial because the capabilities of the SQL dialects vary.

    Supported dialects can be checked with gdal --format. For example:

        $ gdal --format "PostgreSQL"
        [...]
        Supported SQL dialects: NATIVE OGRSQL SQLITE
        [...]
        $ gdal --format "ESRI Shapefile"
        [...]
        Supported SQL dialects: OGRSQL SQLITE
        [...]

--tap, --target-aligned-pixels
    (target aligned pixels) Align the coordinates of the extent of the output file to the values of --resolution, such that the aligned extent includes the minimum extent. Alignment means that xmin / resx, ymin / resy, xmax / resx and ymax / resy are integer values. --tap requires --resolution.

--transformer-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
    set a transformer option suitable to pass to GDALCreateGenImgProjTransformer2(). This is used when converting geometries coordinates to target raster pixel space. For example this can be used to specify RPC related transformer options.

--where <WHERE>
    An optional SQL WHERE style query expression to be applied to select features to burn in from the input layer(s).

STANDARD OPTIONS

--co, --creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
    Many formats have one or more optional creation options that can be used to control particulars about the file created. For instance, the GeoTIFF driver supports creation options to control compression, and whether the file should be tiled.

    May be repeated.

    The creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no creation options at all. A list of options supported for a format can be listed with the --formats command line option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source of information on driver creation options. See Raster drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for each format.

--if, --input-format <format>
    Format/driver name to be attempted to open the input file(s). It is generally not necessary to specify it, but it can be used to skip automatic driver detection, when it fails to select the appropriate driver. This option can be repeated several times to specify several candidate drivers. Note that it does not force those drivers to open the dataset. In particular, some drivers have requirements on file extensions.

    May be repeated.

--oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
    Dataset open option (format specific).

    May be repeated.

-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
    Which output raster format to use. Allowed values may be given by gdal --formats | grep raster | grep rw | sort

--overwrite
    Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset. Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or dataset already exists.

--update
    Whether to open an existing output dataset in update mode.

RETURN STATUS CODE

The program returns status code 0 in case of success, and non-zero in case of error (non-blocking errors emitted as warnings are considered as a successful execution).

EXAMPLES

  Example 1: Burn a shapefile into a raster
The following would burn all polygons from mask.shp into the RGB TIFF file work.tif with the color red (RGB = 255,0,0).

    gdal vector rasterize -b 1,2,3 --burn 255,0,0 -l mask mask.shp work.tif

  Example 2: The following would burn all "class A" buildings into the output elevation file, pulling the top elevation from the ROOF_H attribute.

Burn a shapefile into a raster using a specific where condition to select features

    gdal vector rasterize -a ROOF_H --where "class='A'" -l footprints footprints.shp city_dem.tif

  Example 3: The following would burn all polygons from footprint.shp into a new 1000x1000 rgb TIFF as the color red.

NOTE: -b is not used; the order of the --burn options determines the bands of the output raster.

    gdal vector rasterize --burn 255,0,0 --ot Byte --size 1000,1000 -l footprints footprints.shp mask.tif

  Example 4: Burn a shapefile into a raster using a specific where condition to select features, and restrict the extent to the one of selected features

    gdal pipeline read /vsizip/vsicurl/https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2025/STATE/tl_2025_us_state.zip ! \
                    filter --where  "stusps = 'CA'" --update-extent ! \
                    rasterize  --burn 1 --size 1500,1500 --datatype Byte ! \
                    write out.png --overwrite

AUTHOR
Alessandro Pasotti <elpaso@itopen.it>

COPYRIGHT
1998-2026