World file 1

World file
A world file is a plain text computer data file used by geographic information systems to georeference raster map
images. The file specification was introduced by ESRI.[1] [2]
Small-scale rectangular raster image maps can have an associated world file for GIS map software which describes
the location, scale and rotation of the map. These world files are six-line files with decimal numbers on each line.

Definition
World files do not specify a coordinate system; this information is generally
stored somewhere else in the raster file itself or in another companion file. The
generic meaning of world file parameters are:
• Line 1: A: pixel size in the x-direction in map units/pixel
• Line 2: D: rotation about y-axis
• Line 3: B: rotation about x-axis
• Line 4: E: pixel size in the y-direction in map units, almost always
negative[3]
• Line 5: C: x-coordinate of the center of the upper left pixel
• Line 6: F: y-coordinate of the center of the upper left pixel
This description is however misleading in that the D and B rotation parameters
are not really rotations (in degree or gradient) and in that as soon as D or B are
not zero, the A and E parameter do not correspond to the pixel size anymore.
Some people name the D parameter "y skew" and the B parameter "x skew". A
better description of the A, D, B and E parameters would be:
• Line 1: A: x component of the pixel width
• Line 2: D: y component of the pixel width
• Line 3: B: x component of the pixel height
• Line 4: E: y component of the pixel height, almost always negative
All four parameters are expressed in the map units depending on the
coordinate system associated with the raster.
When D or B are different than zero the pixel width is given by: Graphical view of world files
parameters and computed values of the
four first upper left pixels of an image.
and the pixel height by

World files describing a map on the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system (UTM) use these conventions:
• D and B are usually 0, since the image pixels are usually made to align with the UTM grid
• C is the UTM easting
• F is the UTM northing
• Units are always meters per pixel
The above description applies also to a rectangular, non-rotated image which might be, for example, overlaid on an
orthogonally projected map. If the world file describes an image that is rotated from the axis of the target projection,
however, then A,D,B and E must be derived from the required affine transformation (see below). Specifically, A and
E will no longer be the meter/pixel measurement on their respective axes.
World file 2

These values are used in a six-parameter affine transformation:

which can be written as this set of equations:

where:
x' is the calculated UTM easting of the pixel on the map
y' is the calculated UTM northing of the pixel on the map
x is the column number of the pixel in the image counting from left
y is the row number of the pixel in the image counting from top
A or x-scale; dimension of a pixel in map units in x-direction
B, D are rotation terms
C, F are translation terms: x, y map coordinates of the center of the upper-left pixel
E is negative of y-scale: dimension of a pixel in map units in y-direction
The y-scale (E) is negative because the origins of an image and the UTM coordinate system are different. The origin
of an image is located in the upper-left corner, whereas the origin of the map coordinate system is located in the
lower-left corner. Row values in the image increase from the origin downward, while y-coordinate values in the map
increase from the origin upward. Many mapping programs are unable to handle "upside down" images (i.e. those
with a positive y-scale).
Example: Original falknermap.jpg is 800×600 pixels (map not shown). Its world file is falknermap.jgw and contains:

32.0
0.0
0.0
-32.0
691200.0
4576000.0

The position of Falkner Island light on the map image is:

x = 171 pixels from left

y = 343 pixels from top

This gives:

x1 = 696672 meters Easting

y1 = 4565024 meters Northing

Note that the UTM (grid) zone is not given so the coordinates are ambiguous — they can represent a position in any
of the approximately 120 UTM grid zones. In this case, approximate latitude and longitude (41.2, −072.7) were
looked up in a gazetteer and the UTM (grid) zone was found to be 18 using a Web-based converter.
World file 3

The filename
The name of the world file is based on the raster file's name.
One convention is to append the letter "w" to the end of the raster filename: falknermap.jpg → falknermap.jpgw.
An alternative naming convention is also honored, and in fact is more widespread. The second letter of the original
filename extension is removed, and the letter "w" is added at the end. For example, falknermap.jpg →
falknermap.jgw or falknermap.tif → falknermap.tfw. This convention was developed for filenames that need to
conform to the 8.3 file naming convention.

Localization
When writing World Files it is advisable to ignore localization settings and always use '.' as the decimal separator.
Also, negative numbers should be specified with the '-' character exclusively. This ensures maximum portability of
the images.

See also
• ESRI grid – embeds a similar georeferencing context within a single raster file
• MapInfo TAB format - a popular geospatial vector data format for GIS software

Notes and references

[1] "FAQ: What is the format of the world file used for georeferencing images?" (http:/ / support. esri. com/ index. cfm?fa=knowledgebase.
techarticles. articleShow& d=17489). ESRI. 2007-03-21. . Retrieved 2007-04-17.
[2] ESRI also has another world file format that applies to computer-aided design or CAD drawing files. That standard refers to the format of
plain text computer files with names ending in .wld and is not discussed in this article.
[3] The E parameter is often a negative number. This is because most image files store data from top to bottom, while the software utilizes
traditional Cartesian coordinates with the origin in the conventional lower-left corner. If your raster appears upside-down, you may need to
add a minus sign. The parameter therefore describes the map distance between consecutive image lines.

External links
• ESRI World File Format (http://www.kralidis.ca/gis/worldfile.htm)
Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and Contributors

World file  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=385693328  Contributors: Caltrop, Derek Ross, Dudshan, Eneuron, Fleminra, Forestchen, Gerd-HH, Gtrmp, Jgrahn, Mild Bill
Hiccup, Mwtoews, Natevw, Petritis, PierreWiki, Raburton, Strebe, StuffOfInterest, Tomkralidis, Umapathy, Wjcarper, 31 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:WorldFileParametersSchemas.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WorldFileParametersSchemas.gif  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Pierre Racine

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/