Adobe shared a preview of the Direct Photo Import feature for Lightroom CC in iOS 13.2, which will be updated at the end of the year. Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty demonstrated the ability of a video to demonstrate how to transfer RAW files from a USB card reader to open them seamlessly in the beta version of Lightroom.

Previously, importing photos into Lightroom was a multi-step process in which the user first had to import photos into the iPad Camera Roll, transfer them to Lightroom, and then delete the photos from the Camera Roll to free up space on the iPad. Apple introduced a workaround for this tedious process in January using Siri Shortcut, which automatically imported photos from the Camera Roll into Lightroom and then deleted them from the Camera Roll. However, it was not a perfect solution because the shortcut could not allow the app to import only one of RAW and JPEG. Emphasizing Apple’s limitations on the iPad Pro was a time-consuming task.

Today’s preview of this feature confirms a previous report in April that in iOS 13, the app can import photos from external storage devices such as cameras and SD cards. This is a much requested feature over the years, and this option will go a long way in making the iPad a device that provides real productivity for photographers who depend at least on Lightroom.