GDAL-RASTER-TILE(1) GDAL GDAL-RASTER-TILE(1)

gdal-raster-tile - Generate tiles in separate files from a raster dataset

Added in version 3.11.

Usage: gdal raster tile [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>
Generate tiles in separate files from a raster dataset.
Positional arguments:
  -i, --input <INPUT>                                  Input raster dataset [required]
  -o, --output <OUTPUT>                                Output directory [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]
  --progress                                           Display progress bar
Options:
  -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>  Output format (default: PNG)
  --co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE>                Creation option [may be repeated]
  --tiling-scheme <TILING-SCHEME>                      Tiling scheme. TILING-SCHEME=raster|WebMercatorQuad|WorldCRS84Quad|WorldMercatorWGS84Quad|GoogleCRS84Quad|PseudoTMS_GlobalMercator|LINZAntarticaMapTilegrid|APSTILE|CBMTILE|NZTM2000 (default: WebMercatorQuad)
  --min-zoom <MIN-ZOOM>                                Minimum zoom level
  --max-zoom <MAX-ZOOM>                                Maximum zoom level
  --min-x <MIN-X>                                      Minimum tile X coordinate
  --max-x <MAX-X>                                      Maximum tile X coordinate
  --min-y <MIN-Y>                                      Minimum tile Y coordinate
  --max-y <MAX-Y>                                      Maximum tile Y coordinate
  --no-intersection-ok                                 Whether dataset extent not intersecting tile matrix is only a warning
  -r, --resampling <RESAMPLING>                        Resampling method for max zoom. RESAMPLING=nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline|lanczos|average|rms|mode|min|max|med|q1|q3|sum (default: cubic)
  --overview-resampling <OVERVIEW-RESAMPLING>          Resampling method for overviews. OVERVIEW-RESAMPLING=nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline|lanczos|average|rms|mode|min|max|med|q1|q3|sum
  --convention <CONVENTION>                            Tile numbering convention: xyz (from top) or tms (from bottom). CONVENTION=xyz|tms (default: xyz)
  --tile-size <TILE-SIZE>                              Override default tile size
  --add-alpha                                          Whether to force adding an alpha channel
                                                       Mutually exclusive with --no-alpha
  --no-alpha                                           Whether to disable adding an alpha channel
                                                       Mutually exclusive with --add-alpha
  --dst-nodata <DST-NODATA>                            Destination nodata value
  --skip-blank                                         Do not generate blank tiles
  --metadata <KEY>=<VALUE>                             Add metadata item to output tiles [may be repeated]
  --copy-src-metadata                                  Whether to copy metadata from source dataset
  --aux-xml                                            Generate .aux.xml sidecar files when needed
  --kml                                                Generate KML files
  --resume                                             Generate only missing files
  -j, --num-threads <NUM-THREADS>                      Number of jobs (or ALL_CPUS) (default: ALL_CPUS)
Advanced Options:
  --oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE>                    Open options [may be repeated]
  --if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT>                  Input formats [may be repeated]
Publication Options:
  --webviewer <WEBVIEWER>                              Web viewer to generate. WEBVIEWER=none|all|leaflet|openlayers|mapml (default: all) [may be repeated]
  --url <URL>                                          URL address where the generated tiles are going to be published
  --title <TITLE>                                      Title of the map
  --copyright <COPYRIGHT>                              Copyright for the map
  --mapml-template <MAPML-TEMPLATE>                    Filename of a template mapml file where variables will be substituted

gdal raster tile generates a directory with small tiles and metadata, following the OGC WMTS Specification. Simple web pages with viewers based on OpenLayers and Leaflet are generated as well - so anybody can comfortably explore your maps on-line and you do not need to install or configure any special software (like MapServer) and the map displays very fast in the web browser. You only need to upload the generated directory onto a web server.

It generates PNG files by default, but other output formats can be selected (JPEG, WEBP, GTiff, etc.). Note that not all formats support non-Byte data types. JPEG and WEBP only support Byte. PNG supports Byte and UInt16. GeoTiff can support all data types.

It can also use a tiling scheme fully adapted to the input raster, in terms of origin and resolution, when using the raster tiling scheme. In that scheme, tiles at the maximum zoom level will have the same resolution as the raster.

Input raster dataset [required]
Output directory [required]

The directory will be created if it does not exist, but its parent directory must exist.

Which output raster format to use. Allowed values may be given by gdal --formats | grep raster | grep rw | sort

Defaults to PNG.

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.

Tile cutting scheme. Defaults to WebMercatorQuad (also known as Google Maps compatible).

The following base profiles are available:

  • raster: CRS = CRS of raster, tile size = 256 pixels, raster coverage at all zoom levels.
  • WebMercatorQuad: CRS = EPSG:3857 ("WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator"), tile size: 256 pixels, whole world coverage at zoom level 0, one single tile at zoom level 0.
  • WorldCRS84Quad: CRS = EPSG:4326 ("WGS 84"), tile size: 256 pixels, whole world coverage at zoom level 0, two side-by-side tiles at zoom level 0
  • WorldMercatorWGS84Quad: CRS = EPSG:3395 ("WGS 84 / World Mercator"), tile size: 256 pixels, whole world coverage at zoom level 0, one single tile at zoom level 0. This can be seen as a variant of WebMercatorQuad except that it is fully conformal on the WGS84 ellipsoid.
  • GoogleCRS84Quad: CRS = EPSG:4326 ("WGS 84"), tile size: 256 pixels, whole world coverage at zoom level 0, one single tile at zoom level 0 whose first and last 64 lines are blank (the top origin of the tile is a pseudo latitude of 180 degree, and its bottom -180 degree).
  • PseudoTMS_GlobalMercator: CRS = EPSG:3857 ("WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator"), tile size: 256 pixels, whole world coverage at zoom level 0, 2x2 tiles at zoom level 0. This is equivalent to WebMercatorQuad, but with the zoom level shifted by one.
  • LINZAntarticaMapTileGrid: LINZ Antarctic Map Tile Grid (Ross Sea Region). See tms_LINZAntarticaMapTileGrid.json
  • APSTILE: Alaska Polar Stereographic-based tiled coordinate reference system for the Arctic region. See tms_MapML_APSTILE.json
  • CBMTILE: Lambert Conformal Conic-based tiled coordinate reference system for Canada. See tms_MapML_CBMTILE.json
  • NZTM2000: LINZ NZTM2000 Map Tile Grid. See tms_NZTM2000.json

Additional tiling schemes are discovered from tms_XXXX.json files placed in the GDAL data directory.

Minimum zoom level to generate. If not specified, equal to --max-zoom.
Maximum zoom level to generate. If not specified, this will be determined by comparing the resolution of the input dataset with the closest resolution in the list of tile matrix of the tile matrix set.
Minimum tile X coordinate, at maximum zoom level. Can be set to restrict the tiling process.
Minimum tile Y coordinate, at maximum zoom level. Can be set to restrict the tiling process.
Maximum tile X coordinate, at maximum zoom level. Can be set to restrict the tiling process.
Maximum tile Y coordinate, at maximum zoom level. Can be set to restrict the tiling process.
Whether the dataset extent not intersecting the tile matrix is only a warning. Otherwise, by default, an error will be emitted if that occurs.
Resampling method used to generate maximum zoom level, and also lower zoom levels if --overview-resampling is not specified. Defaults to cubic.
Resampling method used to generate zoom levels lower than the maximum zoom level. Defaults to the value of --resampling is not specified.
Tile numbering convention:
  • xyz (default): from top, as in OGC Web Map Tiling Specification (WMTS)
  • tms: from bottom, as in OSGeo Tile Map Service (TMS) Specification.
Width and height of a tile, in pixels. Default is 256 for default tiling schemes. Setting it to a higher value enables generating higher DPI tile sets.
Whether to force adding an alpha channel. An alpha channel is added by default, unless the source dataset has a nodata value and the output format supports it.
Disable the creation of an alpha channel.
Destination nodata value.
Do not generate fully blank/transparent tiles.
Add metadata item to output tiles [may be repeated]
Whether to copy metadata from source dataset into output tiles.
Generate .aux.xml sidecar files when needed
Generate Google Earth SuperOverlay metadata. Not compatible with tiling schemes with non-power-of-two zoom levels.
Generate only missing files. Can be used when interrupting a previous run to restart it.
Number of jobs to run at once. Default: number of CPUs detected.

Web viewer to generate. Defaults to all.
URL address where the generated tiles are going to be published.
Title of the map.
Copyright for the map.

MapML webviewer can only be generated if --convention is set to the default value xyz.

The following profiles are supported:

  • WebMercatorQuad: mapped to OSMTILE MapML tiling scheme
  • GoogleCRS84Quad: mapped to WGS84 MapML tiling scheme
  • APSTILE: from the tms_MapML_APSTILE.json data file
  • CBMTILE: from the tms_MapML_CBMTILE.json data file

The generated MapML file in the output directory is mapml.mapl

Available options are:

Filename of a template mapml file where variables will be substituted. If not specified, the generic template_tiles.mapml file from GDAL data resources will be used

The --url option is also used to substitute ${URL} in the template MapML file.

gdal raster tile --min-zoom=2 --max-zoom=5 input.tif output_folder

gdal raster tile --tiling-scheme raster input.tif output_folder

Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>

1998-2025

May 6, 2025