Conventional RF image formation relies on a fixed waveform set that is based largely on obtaining maximum resolution for a given amount of bandwidth present in a waveform. However, the correlation process for a given waveform set varies widely depending on the cross correlation properties of the waveform and the geometry of the aperture interrogating the object to be imaged. We propose a method that maximizes quality of the imagery being reconstructed based by first using an orthogonal basis to minimize the unwanted correlation response for the waveform. We then shape the frequency and temporal correlation response of the waveform for a given target using a rate distortion criteria and demonstrate the performance of the method.