{"id":176631,"date":"2011-09-06T23:10:59","date_gmt":"2011-09-06T23:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=176631"},"modified":"2018-12-18T11:04:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T19:04:57","slug":"does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen","title":{"rendered":"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?"},"author":4061,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22931],"tags":[24651,23011,31331],"industry":[],"product":[36991],"class_list":["post-176631","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-imagery","tag-image-analysis","tag-raster","tag-statistics","product-arcgis-desktop"],"acf":{"short_description":"One of the most common issues that seem to plague our users, is their raster data displaying as a black rectangle. ","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

One of the most common issues that seem to plague our users, is their raster data displaying as a black rectangle.\u00a0 This is especially problematic for data that is 16-bit or 32-bit.<\/p>\n

Here is an over simplified flowchart to help you take the first steps in solving your black rectangle problem.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nHopefully\u00a0 this helped you solve your issue, or at least steered you in the right direction. ArcGIS can only render your data based on the pixel values of your dataset. If all your pixel values are zero (or near zero) then it will render it as such.<\/p>\n"}],"authors":[{"ID":4061,"user_firstname":"Simon","user_lastname":"Woo","nickname":"Simon Woo","user_nicename":"simo3919","display_name":"Simon W","user_email":"swoo@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:40","user_description":"Simon is an Esri product engineer on the Raster team. He works mainly with Pixel Editor, raster visualization, georeferencing, and documentation.","user_avatar":""}],"related_articles":"","card_image":false,"wide_image":false},"yoast_head":"\nDoes your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ArcGIS Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-18T19:04:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ESRI\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Simon W\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f650fb8cda0894dd6401d333dcdcb64\"},\"headline\":\"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-06T23:10:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-18T19:04:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen\"},\"wordCount\":12,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"image analysis\",\"raster\",\"statistics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Imagery & Remote Sensing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen\",\"name\":\"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-06T23:10:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-18T19:04:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/\",\"name\":\"ArcGIS Blog\",\"description\":\"Get insider info from Esri product teams\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Esri\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Esri\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ESRI\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/5311\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f650fb8cda0894dd6401d333dcdcb64\",\"name\":\"Simon W\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284f5c139a24b4d63be933eebce2580a4a5dc93d4c09b375bd1d2368019e8748?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284f5c139a24b4d63be933eebce2580a4a5dc93d4c09b375bd1d2368019e8748?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Simon W\"},\"description\":\"Simon is an Esri product engineer on the Raster team. He works mainly with Pixel Editor, raster visualization, georeferencing, and documentation.\",\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen","og_site_name":"ArcGIS Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","article_modified_time":"2018-12-18T19:04:57+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@ESRI","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen"},"author":{"name":"Simon W","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f650fb8cda0894dd6401d333dcdcb64"},"headline":"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?","datePublished":"2011-09-06T23:10:59+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-18T19:04:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen"},"wordCount":12,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["image analysis","raster","statistics"],"articleSection":["Imagery & Remote Sensing"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen","name":"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-09-06T23:10:59+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-18T19:04:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/imagery\/does-your-raster-data-display-as-a-black-rectangle-on-your-screen#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does your raster data display as a black rectangle on your screen?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/","name":"ArcGIS Blog","description":"Get insider info from Esri product teams","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization","name":"Esri","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Esri"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ESRI","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/5311\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6f650fb8cda0894dd6401d333dcdcb64","name":"Simon W","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284f5c139a24b4d63be933eebce2580a4a5dc93d4c09b375bd1d2368019e8748?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/284f5c139a24b4d63be933eebce2580a4a5dc93d4c09b375bd1d2368019e8748?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Simon W"},"description":"Simon is an Esri product engineer on the Raster team. He works mainly with Pixel Editor, raster visualization, georeferencing, and documentation.","url":""}]}},"text_date":"September 6, 2011","author_name":"Simon W","author_page":false,"custom_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Newsroom-Keyart-Wide-1920-x-1080.jpg","primary_product":"ArcMap","tag_data":[{"term_id":24651,"name":"image analysis","slug":"image-analysis","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":24651,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":29,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":23011,"name":"raster","slug":"raster","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":23011,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":147,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":31331,"name":"statistics","slug":"statistics","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":31331,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw"}],"category_data":[{"term_id":22931,"name":"Imagery & Remote Sensing","slug":"imagery","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22931,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":765,"filter":"raw"}],"product_data":[{"term_id":36991,"name":"ArcMap","slug":"arcgis-desktop","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":36991,"taxonomy":"product","description":"","parent":36981,"count":325,"filter":"raw"}],"primary_product_link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?s=#&products=arcgis-desktop","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/176631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4061"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/176631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176631"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=176631"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=176631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}