Publish an imagery service from ArcGIS Pro with a preferred raster function or defined symbology

Summary

When publishing Imagery Layers from ArcGIS Pro, sharing a raster dataset or mosaic datasets is done from the Catalog pane. Therefore, rasters with the symbology settings on the map cannot be published in the traditional way that one would publish a Feature Layer or Map Image Layer. 

To apply preferred symbology on imagery layers, a Raster Function can be created. Raster functions are operations that apply processing directly to the pixels of imagery and raster datasets and they allow users to define processing operations that can be applied to one or more rasters. 

Procedure

Create a Raster Function Template

1. Add a raster dataset, mosaic dataset to ArcGIS Pro.
2. In the Table of Contents, right-click the dataset and click Symbology.
3. Modify the symbology, such as applying a stretch or using a different color ramp.
4. At the top of the page, click the 'hamburger' button and select Export as raster function template, shown in the next image.

5. Complete the required information in the Pop-up tab and click Save.
   • If you select the Project Category the rft.xml file is created under the ArcGIS Pro Project's RasterFunctionTemplates folder.
   • If you selected Custom category, when saving the template, the file is stored under the Raster > CustomProcessCategories folder, The default location is:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\ESRI\ArcGISPro\Raster\CustomProcessCategories

Publish Imagery Service with a Raster Function Template

1. Navigate to the Catalog pane, right-click the mosaic dataset, and click Share As Web layer.

Note:
The layer MUST be published from the Catalog pane, otherwise it won't be published as an image service. 

2. In the Share As Web Layer dialog, click the Configuration tab, and click Configure Web Layer Properties, available next to the the Imagery option.
3. On the configuration properties, scroll down the page and expand Raster Functions, as shown in the image below. Click the Add button on the file section and navigate to and select your raster function template.
4. When you add a raster function template to the image service, you can choose to apply it as the Default template. This means the service by default is displayed using the raster template and no further user interaction is required.