Raw SmithBlog
Travel with an iPad instead of a laptop: a RAW workflow from card to finished photo
An iPad can replace a laptop for RAW photos on a trip: import from the card with a USB-C reader, cull and edit offline, back the RAWs up to a small SSD, and sync the library to your Mac when you're home. The two limits to plan around are storage, because the RAWs have to fit on the iPad, and camera support, because the iPad uses Apple's RAW decoder.
The question comes up on every photography forum before a big trip. A typical one on TalkPhotography asks whether an iPad is enough to take Canon R5 RAWs off the card, sort them and get them home to a Mac; the replies split between "USB-C iPads are practical now" and "just take a MacBook Air". On Adobe's forum, people are still asking how to keep Lightroom on iPad working without a connection, for example this thread and the request to edit locally in the mobile version. Here's a workflow that doesn't depend on a connection at all.
Before you go: check three things
- Your camera is supported. The iPad reads RAW files through Apple's system decoder, so look your camera up on the supported cameras list, including its notes on compression modes. Import a few test shots at home rather than finding out abroad.
- You have the right reader. Every current iPad has USB-C. Apple's USB-C to SD Card Reader or most third-party USB-C readers work; a CFexpress reader with USB-C works too if the iPad sees the card in the Files app.
- The iPad has room. See the storage section below. This is the one that catches people out.
Plan storage before anything else
On iPad, Raw Smith copies every RAW you import into its own folder in the Files app (On My iPad › Raw Smith). It can't edit files left on a card or an external drive. So the trip's keepers, or the whole trip, have to fit on the iPad.
Work it out from your own files. Open one of your RAWs in the Files app and check its size, then multiply:
| RAW size | 1,000 frames | 3,000 frames | 5,000 frames |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 MB | 25 GB | 75 GB | 125 GB |
| 50 MB | 50 GB | 150 GB | 250 GB |
| 100 MB | 100 GB | 300 GB | 500 GB |
Leave room on top for previews, exports and the rest of the iPad. Current iPads range from 128 GB to 2 TB depending on the model (Apple's comparison). If the numbers don't fit, you have two ways out: shoot RAW only rather than RAW+JPEG (Raw Smith ignores the JPEGs anyway, but they still fill the card and any backup), or import only each day's selects and leave the rest on the cards and the SSD.
Import from the card each evening
- Plug in the card reader, or the camera itself with a USB-C cable.
- In Raw Smith's library, tap Import RAWs and pick the card under Cameras and Cards. The first time, allow access when iPadOS asks.
- The sheet shows the card's RAWs grouped by day. Ones you've already imported are badged Imported, and only new ones are selected, so you can keep shooting on the same card all week and import just today's.
- Tap Import, then Eject before you pull the card.
After the import, the sheet that follows lets you add the photos to an album (one per day or per place works well), rename them, add keywords such as the town, or apply a preset. The SD card guide covers the details.
Back up to an SSD
An iPad is one device, and it can be lost or dropped. Keep a second copy of the RAWs on a small USB-C SSD, and don't format a card until its files are in two places.
- From the card: in the Files app, open the card's
DCIMfolder and copy it to the SSD. - From Raw Smith: the imported RAWs are ordinary files in On My iPad › Raw Smith, so you can copy that folder to the SSD in Files as well.
To be clear about what the SSD is for: it's a backup. You can import RAWs from it with Import RAWs › From Files…, but on iPad they're copied onto the iPad, not edited on the drive. If you do import from the SSD, leave Move RAWs picked in Files instead of copying them off in Settings › Editor, so the backup stays on the drive. An iPad Pro's Thunderbolt port makes big copies noticeably faster than the USB-C port on other models.
Cull on the iPad
Culling is where an iPad is better than a laptop on a sofa or a train. Tap Fast Cull in the toolbar (⇧⌘F with a keyboard): swipe up to pick, down to reject, left and right to move, double-tap to check focus. Turn on Auto-Advance to move on after each decision.
- With a keyboard attached, P, X and U pick, reject and unflag, and 0–5 set stars.
- Compare and Survey put similar frames side by side, zoomed together.
- Suggested Rejects in the sidebar lists frames with closed eyes, missed focus or bad exposure. It's worked out on the iPad and only suggests; it never flags anything for you.
Then filter to Picks and edit only those. The culling tutorial walks through a whole shoot.
Edit offline
Everything in Raw Smith runs on the iPad, so a flight or a mountain hut makes no difference. Profiles, light, colour, curves, masks (including the AI Subject, Sky and People masks, made with Apple's Vision framework on the device), noise reduction, crop and export all work with no connection. Because the RAWs were imported on the iPad, the originals are there for the Detail panel's sharpening and noise reduction and, on cameras where Apple offers it, the Enhanced decode.
Edit one photo from each scene, then select it and the rest of the scene in the library and choose More › Copy Edits from “…” to the Others. Export a few JPEGs with Save to Photos or Share… to send home; the Web / Social (2048px) size keeps them small.
Sync when you're back on Wi-Fi
When you have a connection you trust, turn on Sync photos with iCloud in Settings › iCloud on the iPad and the Mac, both signed in to the same Apple Account. Photos already in the library start syncing as soon as it's on. Each photo sends a small preview first, then its original RAW. Edits, snapshots, ratings, flags, labels, keywords, albums and presets all go with them.
Two things to plan for:
- iCloud storage. Sync uses your own iCloud storage, and the originals count. A 150 GB trip needs 150 GB free. Settings › iCloud in Raw Smith shows Storage Used.
- Upload time. Hundreds of gigabytes take a while even on good broadband. The sync button in the toolbar shows what's still uploading.
Once the originals are safely in iCloud, Remove Downloaded Originals… in Settings › iCloud deletes the iPad's copies to free space; the photos and edits stay, and each RAW downloads again when it's needed. Don't delete photos to make room: with sync on, deleting a photo deletes it on every device, and there's no Recently Deleted.
Finish on the Mac
On the Mac, the trip appears with every edit and album. Photos from the iPad show and edit from their previews straight away, and the original downloads when you export or view at full size. To keep every original on the Mac, turn on Download Originals on This Device. Then carry on where you left off with a bigger screen, batch export the finished set, or write XMP sidecars to take ratings and keywords to another app (develop settings stay in Raw Smith).
If you'd rather not use iCloud at all, copy the RAWs from the SSD to the Mac instead. The files arrive, but your iPad edits, ratings and albums don't come with them.
Where Raw Smith fits, and where it doesn't
Raw Smith covers this whole trip on one device: card import that knows what's new, Fast Cull, on-device masks and noise reduction, and a library that syncs through your own iCloud with no Raw Smith account. What it doesn't do: edit RAWs in place on an external drive on iPad, merge panoramas or HDR brackets, tether a camera, or run on Windows. If editing straight off an SSD matters to you, the Mac version refers to files where they are, and a laptop may still be the better travel companion.
Raw Smith is a free download with a free tier and a 14-day trial; Pro is a one-time purchase or a yearly plan. Try your own camera's files before the trip: it's in public beta on TestFlight for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Questions
Can an iPad replace a laptop for RAW photos when travelling?
For importing, culling, editing and sharing, yes, as long as your camera's RAW files are supported by Apple's decoder and the iPad has room for the trip's photos. A laptop still wins for big file management jobs, panorama and HDR merges, and editing straight off an external drive.
Can I edit RAW files on an external SSD from an iPad?
Not in Raw Smith. On iPad, Raw Smith copies every RAW you import into its own folder, so you can import from an SSD but not edit the files in place on it. Use the SSD as a backup and plan for the iPad's own storage.
Does editing RAW on an iPad need an internet connection?
Not in Raw Smith. Importing, culling, editing, masks and exporting all run on the iPad. A connection only matters if you turn on iCloud sync.
How much storage do I need on an iPad for a photo trip?
Multiply your RAW file size by the number of frames you expect. At around 50 MB a frame, 2,000 frames is about 100 GB, plus room for previews and exports. Check one of your own RAWs for its real size.
How do I get my iPad edits onto my Mac?
Turn on Sync photos with iCloud in Raw Smith on both devices. Photos, edits, ratings, keywords and albums sync through your own iCloud, and the Mac can download every original with Download Originals on This Device.