GDAL-VECTOR-CLIP(1) GDAL GDAL-VECTOR-CLIP(1)
gdal-vector-clip - Clip a vector dataset
Added in version 3.11.
Usage: gdal vector clip [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>
Clip a vector dataset.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input <INPUT> Input vector datasets [required]
-o, --output <OUTPUT> Output vector dataset [required]
Common Options:
-h, --help Display help message and exit
--json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit
--config <KEY>=<VALUE> Configuration option [may be repeated]
-q, --quiet Quiet mode (no progress bar)
Options:
-l, --layer, --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER> Input layer name(s) [may be repeated]
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
--co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Creation option [may be repeated]
--lco, --layer-creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Layer creation option [may be repeated]
--overwrite Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
--update Whether to open existing dataset in update mode
--overwrite-layer Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
--append Whether appending to existing layer is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --upsert
--output-layer <OUTPUT-LAYER> Output layer name
--skip-errors Skip errors when writing features
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER> Set active layer (if not specified, all)
--bbox <BBOX> Clipping bounding box as xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
Mutually exclusive with --geometry, --like
--bbox-crs <BBOX-CRS> CRS of clipping bounding box
--geometry <GEOMETRY> Clipping geometry (WKT or GeoJSON)
Mutually exclusive with --bbox, --like
--geometry-crs <GEOMETRY-CRS> CRS of clipping geometry
--like <DATASET> Dataset to use as a template for bounds
Mutually exclusive with --bbox, --geometry
--like-sql <SELECT-STATEMENT> SELECT statement to run on the 'like' dataset
Mutually exclusive with --like-where
--like-layer <LAYER-NAME> Name of the layer of the 'like' dataset
--like-where <WHERE-EXPRESSION> WHERE SQL clause to run on the 'like' dataset
Mutually exclusive with --like-sql
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
--output-oo, --output-open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Output open options [may be repeated]
--upsert Upsert features (implies 'append')
Mutually exclusive with --append
gdal vector clip can be used to clip a vector dataset using
georeferenced coordinates.
Either --bbox, --geometry or --like must be specified.
clip can also be used as a step of gdal vector pipeline.
Clipping sometimes results in geometries that are of a type not
compatible with the geometry type. This program splits
multi-geometries or geometry collections into their parts for layers
that are of a single geometry type (such as point, linestring,
polygon) and only keeps the parts that are of that type. It also
promotes single geometry types (e.g. polygons) to multi geometry
types (e.g. multi-polygons). If the user needs to preserve any type
of intersection, the layer must use the wkbUnknown (any geometry)
type.
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
Which output vector format to use. Allowed values may be given
by gdal --formats | grep vector | grep rw | sort
--co, --creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional dataset creation
options that can be used to control particulars about the file
created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports creation
options to control the version.
May be repeated.
The dataset creation options available vary by format driver,
and some simple formats have no creation options at all. A
list of options supported for a format can be listed with the
--formats command line option but the documentation for the
format is the definitive source of information on driver
creation options. See Vector drivers format specific
documentation for legal creation options for each format.
Note that dataset creation options are different from layer
creation options.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER>
Set the active layer. When it is specified, only the layer
specified by its name will be subject to the processing. Other
layers will be not modified. If this option is not specified,
all layers will be subject to the processing.
--bbox <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>
Bounds to which to clip the dataset. They are assumed to be in
the CRS of the input dataset, unless --bbox-crs is specified.
The X and Y axis are the "GIS friendly ones", that is X is
longitude or easting, and Y is latitude or northing. Mutually
exclusive with --like and --geometry.
--bbox-crs <CRS>
CRS in which the <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax> values of --bbox
are expressed. If not specified, it is assumed to be the CRS
of the input dataset. Note that specifying --bbox-crs does
not involve doing vector reprojection. Instead, the bounds
are reprojected from the bbox-crs to the CRS of the input
dataset.
--geometry <WKT_or_GeoJSON>
Geometry as a WKT or GeoJSON string to which to clip the
dataset. If the input geometry is GeoJSON, its CRS is assumed
to be WGS84, unless there is a CRS defined in the GeoJSON
geometry or --geometry-crs is specified. If the input
geometry is WKT, its CRS is assumed to be the one of the input
dataset, unless --geometry-crs is specified. The X and Y axis
are the "GIS friendly ones", that is X is longitude or
easting, and Y is latitude or northing. Mutually exclusive
with --bbox and --like.
--geometry-crs <CRS>
CRS in which the coordinates values of --geometry are
expressed. If not specified, it is assumed to be the CRS of
the input dataset. Note that specifying --geometry-crs does
not involve doing vector reprojection. Instead, the bounds
are reprojected from the geometry-crs to the CRS of the input
dataset.
--like <DATASET>
Vector or raster dataset to use as a template for bounds. If
the specified dataset is a raster, its rectangular bounds are
used as the clipping geometry. If the specified dataset is a
vector dataset, its polygonal geometries are unioned together
to form the clipping geometry (beware that the result union
might not be perfect if there are gaps between individual
polygon features). If several layers are present, --like-sql
or --like-layer must be specified. Mutually exclusive with
--bbox and --geometry.
--like-sql <SELECT-STATEMENT>
Select desired geometries from the vector clip dataset using
an SQL query. e.g SELECT geom FROM my_layer WHERE country =
'France'. Mutually exclusive with --like-layer and
--like-where
--like-layer <LAYER-NAME>
Select the named layer from the vector clip dataset. Mutually
exclusive with --like-sql
--like-where <WHERE-EXPRESSION>
Restrict desired geometries from vector clip dataset layer
based on an attribute query. e.g country = 'France'.
--oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Dataset open option (format specific).
May be repeated.
--if, --input-format <format>
Format/driver name to be attempted to open the input file(s).
It is generally not necessary to specify it, but it can be
used to skip automatic driver detection, when it fails to
select the appropriate driver. This option can be repeated
several times to specify several candidate drivers. Note that
it does not force those drivers to open the dataset. In
particular, some drivers have requirements on file extensions.
May be repeated.
Example 1: Clip a GeoPackage file to the bounding box from longitude 2,
latitude 49, to longitude 3, latitude 50 in WGS 84
$ gdal vector clip --bbox=2,49,3,50 --bbox-crs=EPSG:4326 in.gpkg out.gpkg --overwrite
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
1998-2026
March 20, 2026 GDAL-VECTOR-CLIP(1)
NAME
gdal-vector-clip - Clip a vector dataset
Added in version 3.11.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal vector clip [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>
Clip a vector dataset.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input <INPUT> Input vector datasets [required]
-o, --output <OUTPUT> Output vector dataset [required]
Common Options:
-h, --help Display help message and exit
--json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit
--config <KEY>=<VALUE> Configuration option [may be repeated]
-q, --quiet Quiet mode (no progress bar)
Options:
-l, --layer, --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER> Input layer name(s) [may be repeated]
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
--co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Creation option [may be repeated]
--lco, --layer-creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Layer creation option [may be repeated]
--overwrite Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
--update Whether to open existing dataset in update mode
--overwrite-layer Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
--append Whether appending to existing layer is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --upsert
--output-layer <OUTPUT-LAYER> Output layer name
--skip-errors Skip errors when writing features
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER> Set active layer (if not specified, all)
--bbox <BBOX> Clipping bounding box as xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
Mutually exclusive with --geometry, --like
--bbox-crs <BBOX-CRS> CRS of clipping bounding box
--geometry <GEOMETRY> Clipping geometry (WKT or GeoJSON)
Mutually exclusive with --bbox, --like
--geometry-crs <GEOMETRY-CRS> CRS of clipping geometry
--like <DATASET> Dataset to use as a template for bounds
Mutually exclusive with --bbox, --geometry
--like-sql <SELECT-STATEMENT> SELECT statement to run on the 'like' dataset
Mutually exclusive with --like-where
--like-layer <LAYER-NAME> Name of the layer of the 'like' dataset
--like-where <WHERE-EXPRESSION> WHERE SQL clause to run on the 'like' dataset
Mutually exclusive with --like-sql
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
--output-oo, --output-open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Output open options [may be repeated]
--upsert Upsert features (implies 'append')
Mutually exclusive with --append
DESCRIPTION
gdal vector clip can be used to clip a vector dataset using
georeferenced coordinates.
Either --bbox, --geometry or --like must be specified.
clip can also be used as a step of gdal vector pipeline.
Clipping sometimes results in geometries that are of a type not
compatible with the geometry type. This program splits
multi-geometries or geometry collections into their parts for layers
that are of a single geometry type (such as point, linestring,
polygon) and only keeps the parts that are of that type. It also
promotes single geometry types (e.g. polygons) to multi geometry
types (e.g. multi-polygons). If the user needs to preserve any type
of intersection, the layer must use the wkbUnknown (any geometry)
type.
Standard options
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
Which output vector format to use. Allowed values may be given
by gdal --formats | grep vector | grep rw | sort
--co, --creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional dataset creation
options that can be used to control particulars about the file
created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports creation
options to control the version.
May be repeated.
The dataset creation options available vary by format driver,
and some simple formats have no creation options at all. A
list of options supported for a format can be listed with the
--formats command line option but the documentation for the
format is the definitive source of information on driver
creation options. See Vector drivers format specific
documentation for legal creation options for each format.
Note that dataset creation options are different from layer
creation options.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER>
Set the active layer. When it is specified, only the layer
specified by its name will be subject to the processing. Other
layers will be not modified. If this option is not specified,
all layers will be subject to the processing.
--bbox <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>
Bounds to which to clip the dataset. They are assumed to be in
the CRS of the input dataset, unless --bbox-crs is specified.
The X and Y axis are the "GIS friendly ones", that is X is
longitude or easting, and Y is latitude or northing. Mutually
exclusive with --like and --geometry.
--bbox-crs <CRS>
CRS in which the <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax> values of --bbox
are expressed. If not specified, it is assumed to be the CRS
of the input dataset. Note that specifying --bbox-crs does
not involve doing vector reprojection. Instead, the bounds
are reprojected from the bbox-crs to the CRS of the input
dataset.
--geometry <WKT_or_GeoJSON>
Geometry as a WKT or GeoJSON string to which to clip the
dataset. If the input geometry is GeoJSON, its CRS is assumed
to be WGS84, unless there is a CRS defined in the GeoJSON
geometry or --geometry-crs is specified. If the input
geometry is WKT, its CRS is assumed to be the one of the input
dataset, unless --geometry-crs is specified. The X and Y axis
are the "GIS friendly ones", that is X is longitude or
easting, and Y is latitude or northing. Mutually exclusive
with --bbox and --like.
--geometry-crs <CRS>
CRS in which the coordinates values of --geometry are
expressed. If not specified, it is assumed to be the CRS of
the input dataset. Note that specifying --geometry-crs does
not involve doing vector reprojection. Instead, the bounds
are reprojected from the geometry-crs to the CRS of the input
dataset.
--like <DATASET>
Vector or raster dataset to use as a template for bounds. If
the specified dataset is a raster, its rectangular bounds are
used as the clipping geometry. If the specified dataset is a
vector dataset, its polygonal geometries are unioned together
to form the clipping geometry (beware that the result union
might not be perfect if there are gaps between individual
polygon features). If several layers are present, --like-sql
or --like-layer must be specified. Mutually exclusive with
--bbox and --geometry.
--like-sql <SELECT-STATEMENT>
Select desired geometries from the vector clip dataset using
an SQL query. e.g SELECT geom FROM my_layer WHERE country =
'France'. Mutually exclusive with --like-layer and
--like-where
--like-layer <LAYER-NAME>
Select the named layer from the vector clip dataset. Mutually
exclusive with --like-sql
--like-where <WHERE-EXPRESSION>
Restrict desired geometries from vector clip dataset layer
based on an attribute query. e.g country = 'France'.
Advanced options
--oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Dataset open option (format specific).
May be repeated.
--if, --input-format <format>
Format/driver name to be attempted to open the input file(s).
It is generally not necessary to specify it, but it can be
used to skip automatic driver detection, when it fails to
select the appropriate driver. This option can be repeated
several times to specify several candidate drivers. Note that
it does not force those drivers to open the dataset. In
particular, some drivers have requirements on file extensions.
May be repeated.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Clip a GeoPackage file to the bounding box from longitude 2,
latitude 49, to longitude 3, latitude 50 in WGS 84
$ gdal vector clip --bbox=2,49,3,50 --bbox-crs=EPSG:4326 in.gpkg out.gpkg --overwrite
AUTHOR
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
COPYRIGHT
1998-2026
March 20, 2026 GDAL-VECTOR-CLIP(1)