ThinkGeo.com    |     Documentation    |     Premium Support

GeoTiffRasterLayer vs GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer

#1

Hallo,
some of our customers use tif-files as background layer. If we use GeoTiffRasterLayer for the images, the map will be rendered correctly. But if we use GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer the map is black.

Unfortunately the GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer is much faster then GeoTiffRasterLayer.
Are there any suggestions to use GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer?

If it is helpful, i can upload a tif-file.

Regards
Torsten

GeoTiffRasterLayer
GeoTiffRasterLayer542×620 20.9 KB

GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer
GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer688×636 31.5 KB

#2

Hi Torsten,

Can you upgrade to v14, which uses GDAL 3.9.1, if you haven’t done so? Also please send over the tif file. You can send it to support@thinkgeo.com if it’s too large uploading here.

Thanks,
Ben

#3

Hi Torsten,

We got the test file you sent over, recreated the issue, and fixed it in the latest beta ThinkGeo.Core 14.3.0-beta137. Please have a try. This fix will be included in the upcoming release v14.3 which we are aiming to release next week.

Thanks,
Ben

#4

Hi Ben, quick question, since there are so many different layer types, for Tiff files, should I rather use GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer, GeoTiffRasterLayer or WpfRasterLayer?

#5

Hi Julian,

Although they all use the “.tif”/“.tiff” extension, TIFF files can be very different under the hood:

  • Plain TIFF has no geospatial metadata (no projection, no bounding box, etc.).
  • GeoTIFF embeds CRS, extent, and can be internally “striped” or “tiled.”

WpfRasterLayer only supports non‑georeferenced TIFFs. It won’t read embedded GeoTIFF tags—you’ll need a separate world file (.tfw) to place it on the map.

GeoTiffRasterLayer and GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer both read full GeoTIFFs:

  • GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer (GDAL‑backed) is the newest and fastest option, but it isn’t available on mobile platforms.
  • GeoTiffRasterLayer (managed reader) works everywhere (including mobile), but it’s less up‑to‑date and slower.

Hope that clears things up—so I would recommend using the Gdal version if you can.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thanks,
Ben

1 Like
#6

Thanks, that fixed a lot of issues on my end, would a blogpost writeup with all different supported file formats and recommended Layer Types be in scope? I would have never found out about the Gdal RasterLayer if not for this forum thread, as the HowDoI uses GeoTiffRasterLayer, and I am curious about JPG (with world map) as well :smiley:
If something like this exists already and I missed it please excuse me and just point me towards it

Have a great evening!

#7

No problem, Julian! We’re continuing to improve our documentation but do please feel free to ask us any questions here in the forum whenever you need help.

#8

Hello Ben,

after upgrading to latest version 14.4.0-beta047, i try to test all our layers. Now the GeoTiffGdalRasterLayer throws an exception (Exception of type ‘System.ExecutionEngineException’ was thrown.)

Please send me a link to upload the file…

Any help is appreciated
Regards Torsten

#9

Hi Torsten,

Can you create a ticket and upload your file there? Or you can upload it to your google drive or something and share to us?

Thanks,
Ben

#10

Hello Ben,
I created a ticket und uploaded the file.
Thanks,
Torsten

#11

Got it, we’ll reply to you there.