An overview of the To Raster toolset

Raster information can be stored in several different data file formats that can be read by ArcGIS. With the To Raster toolset, you can convert these files into raster datasets. There are also tools that allow you to convert different types of feature information into rasters.

The raster file formats that can be added to your ArcMap display but cannot be created as output directly are ASCII GRID, USGS DEM, and floating-point raster. There is a tool available to convert each of these formats into a raster.

Feature data comes in several forms—point, line, and polygon. There is a tool that can convert any type of feature data into a raster, but there are also tools for each specific feature type that provides greater control over the conversion process.

Learn more about converting features to raster data

The To Raster toolset also provides the ability to convert many rasters at once to a specific output format of your choosing.

Toolset	Description
ASCII To Raster	Converts an ASCII file representing raster data to a raster dataset.
DEM To Raster	Converts a digital elevation model (DEM) in a United States Geological Survey (USGS) format to a raster dataset.
Feature To Raster	Converts features to a raster dataset.
Float To Raster	Converts a file of binary floating-point values representing raster data to a raster dataset.
LAS Dataset To Raster	Creates a raster using elevation, intensity, or RGB values stored in the lidar files (*.las) referenced by the LAS dataset.
Point To Raster	Converts point features to a raster dataset.
Polygon To Raster	Converts polygon features to a raster dataset.
Polyline To Raster	Converts polyline features to a raster dataset.
Raster To Other Format	Converts one or more raster dataset formats supported by ArcGIS to a BIL, BIP, BMP, BSQ, ENVI DAT, GIF, GRID, ERDAS IMAGINE, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG TIFF, or to a geodatabase raster dataset format.

Tools in the To Raster conversion toolset