gdal_translate

converts and transforms raster data

TLDR

Convert raster format

$ gdal_translate [input.tif] [output.png]

Convert with specific format

$ gdal_translate -of GTiff [input.png] [output.tif]

Subset by bounds

$ gdal_translate -projwin [ulx] [uly] [lrx] [lry] [input.tif] [output.tif]

Rescale to 8-bit

$ gdal_translate -ot Byte -scale [input.tif] [output.tif]

Set compression

$ gdal_translate -co COMPRESS=LZW [input.tif] [output.tif]

Extract bands

$ gdal_translate -b 1 -b 2 -b 3 [input.tif] [rgb.tif]

SYNOPSIS

gdal_translate [options] src dst

gdal_translate converts raster data between formats, extracts subsets, and applies transformations. It's part of GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library), the standard for raster geospatial operations.
Common uses include format conversion, creating image pyramids, applying compression, and extracting regions from large datasets.

PARAMETERS

-of format

Output format (GTiff, PNG, JPEG, etc.).

-ot type

Output data type (Byte, Int16, Float32, etc.).

-b band

Select band(s).

-projwin ulx uly lrx lry

Subset by coordinates.

-srcwin xoff yoff xsize ysize

Subset by pixels.

-scale [srcmin srcmax [dstmin dstmax]]

Scale values.

-co NAME=VALUE

Creation option.

-outsize xsize ysize

Output size (pixels or %).

-a_srs srs

Assign spatial reference.

-a_nodata value

Assign nodata value.

CAVEATS

Large files may require significant memory. Some formats don't support all features. Lossy compression loses data. Check gdalinfo for source properties first.

HISTORY

GDAL was started by Frank Warmerdam in 1998 and is now an OSGeo project. gdal_translate is one of the core GDAL utilities, supporting over 150 raster formats.