Georeferencing not work in ArcPro

[AvaFarouche]

Greetings,

Georeferencing is doing some strange things I've never seen before. I've done a lot of georeferencing over the years, starting in Map. This is the first time I remember seeing this particular problem, which is that the control points are showing up in random places in my map, totally disconnected from either the point or target layer. The end result is a jpg layer that's completely warped and dis-placed. I've attempted it multiple times w/different techniques but nothing is working.

For example, here's what happens when I create my first control point:

The control point doesn't correspond to where I placed it, in either the point or target layer. You can probably easily tell where this control point should be, at the main corner point shown in both the point and target layers. And yet it shows up in the middle of those two points. I thought that adding more points might solve the problem, but it just makes it worse. After 3 points, my jpg is upside down and warped beyond recognition.

When I used to do this in Map, I found that my results were better if I turned off the auto-adjust from the beginning. I would add a bunch of control points before adjusting to display. In this case, I've tried it both ways. I've tried Fitting to Display from the beginning, and without that. I've tried each way with auto-adjust and without. Every time, I end up with something completely wacky and unusable.

I started out using my basemap for all of my control points. Since that wasn't working, I added a few feature layers to use as point source. That didn't help anything. And that created another problem: I get crosshairs and a label of whatever vertex I'm approaching that get in the way of my being able to see and pinpoint the precise location I want to place the control point.

The one thing I continue to dislike about Pro is that it took away the separate viewer window tool for georeferencing. That probably wouldn't fix my problem here, but it sure makes it easier to place control points.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

[VenkataKondepati]

This behavior almost always means the raster’s coordinate space is being interpreted incorrectly before you place the first control point.

What’s likely happening:

• The JPG already has incorrect or partial spatial reference / world file info, so Pro is trying to “pre-place” it.
• When you add a control point, Pro applies the transform relative to that bad starting position, which makes the control points appear offset, floating, or between source/target.
• Adding more points compounds the error, leading to flipping and extreme warping.

What usually fixes it:

• Clear any existing georeferencing first
  Georeference tab → Reset Transformation (and delete any .jgw/.aux.xml files if they exist).
• Define (don’t project) the raster’s coordinate system to match your map before georeferencing.
• Turn Auto Apply OFF.
• Start with Fit to Display once, then add control points.
• Use 1st-order polynomial (Affine) only until things line up.

About the snapping/labels getting in the way:
Temporarily turn off snapping and disable feature pop-ups while placing control points, Pro is much noisier than ArcMap in this workflow.

This isn’t random behavior; it’s Pro stacking a bad initial raster reference with live adjustment. Reset the raster, define its CRS explicitly, disable auto-apply, and it should behave normally again.

[AvaFarouche]

Thank you so much for your response!

Well, that produced some improvements in the process, but it ultimately still didn't work. My raster is displaying in a flat, proportional image in my map after the georeferencing process, but it's not connected to the map. It doesn't line up w/the map or other features, and the control points again are totally displaced. They're not where I put them, either on the point or the target layer. I tried it several times, only using 4-5 distributed control points.

I'm totally flummoxed. If you have any other pointers, I'd appreciate it, but thanks so much for all the info! That was very helpful to learn for future reference.

[LindsayRaabe_FPCWA]

Have you tried converting the image to a different format and using that? It might help to clear any of the issues that @VenkataKondepati listed around preexisting reference info. 

[AvaFarouche]

Thanks for chiming in! Yes. Well, the original image is a pdf. I converted it to jpg and png and tried both of those. When neither of those worked, I figured it wouldn't help to try much more. I suppose I should though...

[LindsayRaabe_FPCWA]

Have sent you a PM. I'm curious to see if I can reproduce/fix the issue.