GDAL-RASTER-CLIP(1) GDAL GDAL-RASTER-CLIP(1)
NAME
gdal-raster-clip - Clip a raster dataset
Added in version 3.11.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal raster clip [OPTIONS]
Clip a raster dataset.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input Input raster datasets [required] [not available in pipelines]
-o, --output Output raster dataset [required] [not available in pipelines]
Common Options:
-h, --help Display help message and exit
--json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit
--config = 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 ("GDALG" allowed) [not available in pipelines]
--co, --creation-option = Creation option [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]
--overwrite Whether overwriting existing output dataset is allowed [not available in pipelines]
Mutually exclusive with --append
--append Append as a subdataset to existing output [not available in pipelines]
Mutually exclusive with --overwrite
--bbox Clipping bounding box as xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
Mutually exclusive with --window, --geometry, --like
--bbox-crs CRS of clipping bounding box
--window Raster window as col,line,width,height in pixels
Mutually exclusive with --bbox, --geometry, --like
--geometry Clipping geometry (WKT or GeoJSON)
Mutually exclusive with --bbox, --window, --like
--geometry-crs CRS of clipping geometry
--like Dataset to use as a template for bounds
Mutually exclusive with --bbox, --window, --geometry
--like-sql SELECT statement to run on the 'like' dataset
Mutually exclusive with --like-where
--like-layer Name of the layer of the 'like' dataset
--like-where WHERE SQL clause to run on the 'like' dataset
Mutually exclusive with --like-sql
--only-bbox For 'geometry' and 'like', only consider their bounding box
--allow-bbox-outside-source Allow clipping box to include pixels outside input dataset
--add-alpha Adds an alpha mask band to the destination when the source raster have none.
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format Input formats [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]
--oo, --open-option = Open options [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]
DESCRIPTION
gdal raster clip can be used to clip a raster dataset using
georeferenced coordinates.
Either --bbox or --like must be specified.
The output dataset is in the same SRS as the input one, and the
original resolution is preserved. Bounds are rounded to match whole
pixel locations (i.e. there is no resampling involved)
clip can also be used as a step of gdal raster pipeline.
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
--add-alpha
Adds an alpha mask band to the destination when the source
raster has none.
--allow-bbox-outside-source
If set, allows the bounds indicated by --bbox to cover an extent
that is greater than the input dataset. Output pixels from areas
beyond the input extent will be set to zero or the NoData value
of the input dataset.
--bbox ,,,
Bounds to which to clip the dataset. They are assumed to be in
the CRS of the input dataset, unless --bbox-crs is specified.
The X and Y axis are the "GIS friendly ones", that is X is
longitude or easting, and Y is latitude or northing. The bounds
are expanded if necessary to match input pixel boundaries. By
default, gdal raster clip will produce an error if the bounds
indicated by --bbox are greater than the extents of input
dataset. This check can be bypassed using
--allow-bbox-outside-source.
--bbox-crs
CRS in which the ,,, values of --bbox
are expressed. If not specified, it is assumed to be the CRS of
the input dataset. Note that specifying --bbox-crs does not
cause the raster to be reprojected. Instead, the bounds are
reprojected from the bbox-crs to the CRS of the input dataset.
--geometry
Geometry as a WKT or GeoJSON string of a polygon (or
multipolygon) to which to clip the dataset. Raster areas within
the bounding box of the geometry but not inside the geometry
itself will be set to the nodata value of the raster, or 0 if
there is none. All pixels overlapping the geometry will be
selected. If the input geometry is GeoJSON, its CRS is assumed
to be WGS84, unless there is a CRS defined in the GeoJSON
geometry or --geometry-crs is specified. If the input geometry
is WKT, its CRS is assumed to be the one of the input dataset,
unless --geometry-crs is specified. The X and Y axis are the
"GIS friendly ones", that is X is longitude or easting, and Y is
latitude or northing. Mutually exclusive with --bbox and
--like.
--geometry-crs
CRS in which the coordinates values of --geometry are expressed.
If not specified, it is assumed to be the CRS of the input
dataset. The bounds are reprojected from the geometry-crs to
the CRS of the input dataset.
--like
Vector or raster dataset to use as a template for bounds. If
the specified dataset is a raster, its rectangular bounds are
used as the clipping geometry. If the specified dataset is a
vector dataset, its polygonal geometries are unioned together to
form the clipping geometry. If several layers are present,
--like-sql or --like-layer must be specified. Raster areas
within the bounding box of the geometry but not inside the
geometry itself will be set to the nodata value of the raster,
or 0 if there is none. Mutually exclusive with --bbox and
--geometry.
--like-layer
Select the named layer from the vector clip dataset. Mutually
exclusive with --like-sql
--like-sql
Select desired geometries from the vector clip dataset using an
SQL query. e.g SELECT geom FROM my_layer WHERE country =
'France'. The SQL dialect used will be the default one of the
like dataset (OGR SQL for Shapefile, SQLite for GeoPackage,
PostgreSQL for PostGIS, etc.). Mutually exclusive with
--like-layer and --like-where
--like-where
Restrict desired geometries from vector clip dataset layer based
on an attribute query. e.g country = 'France'.
--only-bbox
For --geometry and --like, only consider the bounding box of the
geometry.
--window ,,,
Added in version 3.12.
Selects a subwindow from the source image for copying based on
pixel/line location. Pixel/line offsets (column and line) are
measured from the left and top of the image. If the subwindow
extends beyond the bounds of the source dataset, output pixels
will be written with a value of zero, unless a NoData value is
defined either the source dataset.
STANDARD OPTIONS
--co, --creation-option =
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/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.
-f, --of, --format, --output-format
Which output raster format to use. Allowed values may be given
by gdal --formats | grep raster | grep rw | sort
--oo, --open-option =
Dataset open option (format specific).
May be repeated.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.
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: Clip a GeoTIFF file to the bounding box from longitude 2,
latitude 49, to longitude 3, latitude 50 in WGS 84
$ gdal raster clip --bbox=2,49,3,50 --bbox-crs=EPSG:4326 in.tif out.tif --overwrite
Example 2: Clip a GeoTIFF file using the bounds of reference.tif
$ gdal raster clip --like=reference.tif in.tif out.tif --overwrite
Example 3: Clip a GeoTIFF file from raster column 1000 and line 2000, for a
width of 500 pixels and a height of 600 pixels
$ gdal raster clip --window=1000,2000,500,600 in.tif out.tif --overwrite
Example 4: Clip a GeoTIFF using a bounding box extending beyond the source
extent, and write the result as a COG
Use --allow-bbox-outside-source to suppress the error ERROR 1: Computed
source window -180 2943 6269 6235 falls partially outside source raster
extent when the bounding box exceeds the raster extent.
$ gdal raster clip \
--bbox=3757032.814272985,-626172.1357121654,4383204.9499851465,0 \
--bbox-crs=EPSG:3857 \
--allow-bbox-outside-source \
in.tif out.tif \
--overwrite \
--output-format COG
AUTHOR
Even Rouault
COPYRIGHT
1998-2026
August 18, 2026 GDAL-RASTER-CLIP(1)