Alter the geospatial coordinates recorded in the GeoTIFF tags of a TIFF raster

Summary

The internal geospatial referencing for a TIFF image may be incorrect or not acceptable. ArcGIS does not provide a mechanism to alter the GeoTIFF tags that control the internal georeferencing of TIFF images. However, there are several ways you can adjust the internal georeferencing.

Procedure

• Generate a new TIFF file that builds its internal GeoTIFF tags using geospatial coordinates you specify:
  
  1. Convert the TIFF image to a grid with the Image To Raster conversion tool in ArcToolbox.
  
  2. Use the Grid To Image conversion tool to convert the grid into a non-TIFF image format, such as BIL.
  
  3. Replace the contents of the generated world file (*.blw) with those from the world file you wish to use.
  
  4. Convert this intermediate image file into a TIFF with the Grid To Image tool in ArcToolbox.
  
  
• Generate a TIFF file that will incorporate the geospatial coordinates you specified into its internal GeoTIFF tags:
  
  1. Use the CONVERTIMAGE command in ArcInfo Workstation to convert the TIFF to an another format, such as BIL.
  
  2. Replace the contents of the generated world file (*.blw) with those from the TIFF’s *.tfw file.
  
  3. Run CONVERTIMAGE again to convert the intermediate image file back into a TIFF.
  
  
• Use third party software to view and modify the image tags. Two examples of third party software that offer this capability are Erdas Imagine and ER Mapper.