.TIF to .TFW

[Anonymous User]

Original User: CristallLink

So, I've got some VERY large .TIF files that I need to convert to . TFW files. My supervisor is saying that I can do this without opening the large, slow-to-open files with the Command Line within ArcMap, but I'm still a newbie to GIS and have never touched the Command Line. Does anyone know what my supervisor is talking about and/or how to execute this? Or any other way to make this conversion happen? Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Original User: michaelneer

A .tfw is a "world file"  so you don�??t convert a .tif into a  .tfw; (but rather) much like a shape file that has multiple parts .shp, ,shx, .dbf type extensions a .tfw goes with your .tif files. 

It associates your image to the coordinate space its projected in.  If you don�??t have .tfw with your image file(s) as it sounds like now - your images are just that {Basic Images} with no coordinate value meaning that they have not been "georeferenced".

[ChrisMathers]

If you search google for how to make a world file, you can do it by hand. They arent hard to type out if you know the values for the image already.

[Anonymous User]

Original User: CristallLink

Yes, I understand all that - but how do I create a .tfws when all I have are gigantic .tifs? These files are very, very big, and it would take an entire day just to open them all in arcmap, and who knows how long to go through each other of them to project. I guess what I'm speciicaly looking for is a batch process to create .tfws from .tifs. Any suggestions anyone??!

[m_neer]

Once your TIF's have a TIFW then all you need to do is make an IMAGE CATALOG.  Its easy to make and that is all you will need to load.  Check it out, you'll see its much easier than loading lots of images with inflated file sizes.

[Anonymous User]

Original User: csny490

Many new .tif files have the spatial reference information "built in". This is known as the geotiff image format. Could it be that:

1. Your boss is asking you to extract a .tfw file from a geotiff?
2. Georeferenced the .tif images (which are not already georeferenced)? For example, if these  are scanned images of old maps or something?

Not clear exactly what the task at hand is. Could you provide more description?

[Anonymous User]

Original User: CristallLink

OK -- here's what's happening. I'm working with images of CONUS coastline. We're taking the images and distinguishing between the land and water by making all of the land black, and all of the water white. We create these black and white images (masks) in Photoshop, and when we save the masks, they do not retain any of the geospatial reference information from the original .tif image. So, what I want to do is add the original geospatial information to the mask so that I can use it in ArcMap.

Clearer?? Any suggestions??

Again, thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Original User: CristallLink

Or, does anyone know how where to find this directory???

$ARCHOME/atool/arc directory

[ChrisSnyder]

1) $ARCHOME is a environment variable for ArcInfo Workstation. If you are using a Windows machine, you can find what path this variable points to in many ways. But probably the easiest is to:
a. Go to your desktop, and right click on My Computer > Properties > Advanced (tab) > Environment Variables.
b. Look under the System Variables, and you should see one for ARCHOME (probably something like C:\Program Files\....

2) Okay, I get it. Question: Did your original .tif files have accompanying .tfw files?

If so, all you need to do is copy those into the location where your new photoshopped .tif files are, and make sure the have the same prefix name (for example: photoshop_test4.tfw goes with photoshop_test4.tif).

If your originals .tif files (the ones you used as input to your Photoshop process) did not have .tfws (thus indicating they were either geotiffs  - or were not projected in the 1st place?!?), it will be a bit harder, but still pretty easy. Take a look at the ArcGIS tool called "
Export Raster World File (Data Management)". Basically you would have to write a script that would look through all your original .tif files, run the tool on them, and then write the output .tfw files to the path of your new post-photoshopped images. There are harder ways to do this as well, but let me know if either of these two methods works.

[Anonymous User]

Original User: CristallLink

Yes! Chris Snyder, you rule!!

Export Raster World File is exactly what I was looking for. Last question though... do you know a way to use a batch with the tool?? 100+ files is no fun to export one by one!

Again, THANK YOU