Extract text from Sun Raster images (RASTER)
To convert RASTER images to another format, you need ImageMagick or other Raster Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Sun Raster Graphic" file type, you need software like ImageMagick or a similar tool.
A .raster file is primarily known as a Sun Raster Graphic file, a legacy bitmap image format developed by Sun Microsystems for their SunOS and Solaris UNIX operating systems. It was historically used to capture raw memory dumps of a computer's frame buffer. In some technical fields, the .raster extension is also used generically by GIS (Geographic Information System) software to store spatial grid map data.
This format is entirely obsolete for everyday use. A major disadvantage of the .raster format is that modern web browsers, smartphones, and native operating system tools completely fail to open it. Furthermore, it relies on outdated Run-Length Encoding (RLE) or uses zero compression, resulting in massive file sizes that consume unnecessary storage space compared to modern alternatives.
To make these files usable, you must convert them. For web and general use, converting to PNG (lossless) or JPG (lossy) is highly recommended. If the file contains GIS data, it may need to be converted to a TIFF or GeoTIFF to retain spatial coordinates.
Because it is a legacy format, finding software that still supports it is frustrating. Standard online converters often fail to process it. We inspect the internal file headers to bypass outdated extensions and safely extract the underlying image or data payload.
Convert.Guru analyzes your RASTER file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted PDF, TIF, PNG, JPG, JPEG, RAST, PMET and WORLD files.
If you want to convert RASTER file to JPG, PDF, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, TIF, WEBP, ICO, CUR, PSD or PSB, you can use ImageMagick or similar software from the "Legacy UNIX Bitmap Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert RAW, PNG, AI, NEF, PSB, DNG, SVG, GIF, EPS, JPG, ARW or PDF files to RASTER, try ImageMagick or another comparable tool in the "Legacy UNIX Bitmap Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our RASTER converter.