Remove the background of raster imagery in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

In some cases, raster images have a default background and it can be a hindrance when other details are displayed on a map, such as a basemap or feature layer, as shown in the image below.

This article provides three workflows to remove the background of a raster image in ArcGIS Pro. In this example, the raster image has a black background to begin with.

Procedure

Configure the background value of the raster image

1. Open the ArcGIS Pro project.
2. Right-click the raster layer in the Contents pane and click Symbology.
3. In the Symbology pane, click the Mask tab.
4. Check the Display background value check box.
5. Ensure the background values are set to 0.
6. Set the background color to No color.

Note:
Refer to the instructions provided in this article, How To: Remove the white background of a TIFF image, for a raster image with white background in ArcGIS Pro.

Export the raster and configure the NoData value

1. Open the ArcGIS Pro project.
2. Right-click the raster layer in the Contents pane and click Data > Export Raster.
3. In the Export Raster pane, set the NoData value to 0. Leave the other parameters at default.
4. Click Run.

5. In the Contents pane, uncheck the original raster layer check box to display the exported raster data without a background.

Use the Copy Raster geoprocessing tool

1. Open the ArcGIS Pro project.
2. On the top ribbon, under the Analysis tab, click Tools to open the Geoprocessing pane. Search for and open the Copy Raster tool.
3. In the Copy Raster pane, configure the parameters.
   1. Under Input Raster, select the raster dataset to be copied. In this example, ‘Test’ is selected.
   2. Under Output Raster Dataset, specify the name and location of the copy raster dataset.
   3. For Ignore Background Value, set the value to 0.
   4. Under NoData Value, set the value to 0.
   5. For Pixel Type and Format, select as preferred.
   6. Click Run.

4. In the Contents pane, uncheck the original raster layer check box to display the copied raster data without a background.

The image below shows the raster image without a background, and displaying more details of the basemap on the map.