In a method to associate k-space lines with echo trains of raw magnetic resonance data, parallel k-space lines orthogonally intersect a plane at respective intersection points. Each echo train has a trajectory length, and the k-space lines are associated with the echo trains such that a sum of trajectory lengths of all echo trains is minimal. The trajectory length TL of an echo train is defined by TL = ∑ i = 1 L - 1 ⁢ ⁢ P i ⁢ P i + 1 _ wherein L is a sequence of k-space lines, Pi is an intersection point of the i-th k-space line of the echo train with the plane; and PiPi+1 is the length of the path from the i-th intersection point to the (i+1)-th intersection point.