Rasterize

Rasterize[expr]

returns a rasterized version of the displayed form of expr.

Rasterize[expr,elem]

gives the element elem associated with the rasterized form of expr.

Rasterize[expr,{elem₁,elem₂,…}]

gives a list of the specified elem_i.

Details and Options

The expression expr can be graphics, text, a cell, a notebook object or any other expression.
Rasterize[nb] gives a rasterized version of the complete content associated with the notebook object nb.
Possible basic elements that can be returned by Rasterize include:

	"BoundingBox"	bounding box information for the raster
	"Data"	the array of pixel values in the raster
	"Graphics"	a graphics object representing the raster
	"Image"	an image object representing the raster
	"RasterSize"	pixel width and height of the raster
	"Regions"	regions specified by Annotation constructs

Rasterize[expr] is equivalent to Rasterize[expr,"Image"] and displays in a notebook in a way that approximates the unrasterized display of expr, with the same image size.
The following options for Rasterize can be given:

Background	Automatic	background to use
BaselinePosition	Automatic	how to align with a surrounding text baseline
ImageFormattingWidth	$ImageFormattingWidth	wrapping width for expressions to be rasterized
ImageResolution	Automatic	image resolution in dpi for rasterization
ImageSize	Automatic	final displayed image size in printer's points
RasterSize	Automatic	raster size in pixels for rasterization

RasterSize and ImageResolution determine the coarseness of rasterization; ImageSize determines the size at which the final image will be displayed.
If there is an explicit setting for RasterSize, it overrides any explicit setting for ImageResolution.
When the settings for RasterSize or ImageResolution are small, the graphic will appear coarse, and text may be illegible. There may also be artifacts associated with aliasing.
Settings for ImageSize and Background in Rasterize override any settings for those options in expr.
Background->None yields a raster with a transparent background.
If no explicit size or resolution option settings are given, Rasterize[expr,…] will rasterize expr at the size and resolution it would normally be displayed in a notebook.
Rasterize[expr,"RasterSize"] yields {w,h}, where w is the overall width in pixels of the raster, and h is its overall height.
Rasterize[expr,"BoundingBox"] yields {w,h,dh}, where w is the overall width, h is the overall height, and dh is the offset of the baseline of the contents of expr from the bottom of its bounding box.
Images generated by Rasterize can vary slightly from one computer system to another, mainly as a result of different fonts and anti-aliasing procedures.
The results from Rasterize[expr,"BoundingBox"] can depend on details of font metrics, which generally differ between different computer systems.
Rasterize[expr,"Regions"] gives a list of rules of the form {{a₁,type₁}->reg₁,{a₂,type₂}->reg₂,…}, where each rule {a_i,type_i}->reg_i is associated with an annotation of the form Annotation[expr,a_i,type_i] in expr, or with an object that is automatically recognized as an annotation, such as a Hyperlink or Tooltip. The reg_i give pixel positions in the form {{x_min,y_min},{x_max,y_max}}, where y coordinates run from top to bottom, mirroring the coords attribute of HTML.