diff --git a/cmd/load/loadImage.go b/cmd/load/loadImage.go
index f2588438..ed57718c 100644
--- a/cmd/load/loadImage.go
+++ b/cmd/load/loadImage.go
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ import (
 // NewCmdLoadImage returns a new cobra command
 func NewCmdLoadImage() *cobra.Command {
 
+	loadImageOpts := k3d.LoadImageOpts{}
+
 	// create new command
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "image [IMAGE [IMAGE...]]",
@@ -41,11 +43,11 @@ func NewCmdLoadImage() *cobra.Command {
 		Long:  `Load an image from docker into a k3d cluster.`,
 		Args:  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-			images, clusters, keepTarball := parseLoadImageCmd(cmd, args)
+			images, clusters := parseLoadImageCmd(cmd, args)
 			log.Debugf("Load images [%+v] from runtime [%s] into clusters [%+v]", images, runtimes.SelectedRuntime, clusters)
 			for _, cluster := range clusters {
 				log.Infof("Loading images into '%s'", cluster.Name)
-				if err := tools.LoadImagesIntoCluster(cmd.Context(), runtimes.SelectedRuntime, images, &cluster, keepTarball); err != nil {
+				if err := tools.LoadImagesIntoCluster(cmd.Context(), runtimes.SelectedRuntime, images, &cluster, loadImageOpts); err != nil {
 					log.Errorf("Failed to load images into cluster '%s'", cluster.Name)
 					log.Errorln(err)
 				}
@@ -58,8 +60,7 @@ func NewCmdLoadImage() *cobra.Command {
 	 * Flags *
 	 *********/
 	cmd.Flags().StringArrayP("cluster", "c", []string{k3d.DefaultClusterName}, "Select clusters to load the image to.")
-	cmd.Flags().BoolP("keep-tarball", "k", false, "Do not delete the tarball which contains the saved images from the shared volume")
-	cmd.Flags().StringP("tar", "t", "", "Import image from local tarball")
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&loadImageOpts.KeepTar, "keep-tarball", "k", false, "Do not delete the tarball containing the saved images from the shared volume")
 	if err := cmd.MarkFlagFilename("tar", ".tar"); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalln("Failed to mark --tar flag as filename")
 	}
@@ -71,21 +72,7 @@ func NewCmdLoadImage() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 // parseLoadImageCmd parses the command input into variables required to create a cluster
-func parseLoadImageCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) ([]string, []k3d.Cluster, bool) {
-	// --tar
-	localTarball, err := cmd.Flags().GetString("tar")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalln(err)
-	}
-	if cmd.Flags().Changed("tar") { // TODO: loadImage: implement import from local tarball
-		log.Fatalf("--tar flag not supported yet '%s'", localTarball)
-	}
-
-	// --keep-tarball
-	keepTarball, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("keep-tarball")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalln(err)
-	}
+func parseLoadImageCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) ([]string, []k3d.Cluster) {
 
 	// --cluster
 	clusterNames, err := cmd.Flags().GetStringArray("cluster")
@@ -103,5 +90,5 @@ func parseLoadImageCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) ([]string, []k3d.Clust
 		log.Fatalln("No images specified!")
 	}
 
-	return images, clusters, keepTarball
+	return images, clusters
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tools/tools.go b/pkg/tools/tools.go
index ddb8fdc4..cad687ea 100644
--- a/pkg/tools/tools.go
+++ b/pkg/tools/tools.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ import (
 
 // LoadImagesIntoCluster starts up a k3d tools container for the selected cluster and uses it to export
 // images from the runtime to import them into the nodes of the selected cluster
-func LoadImagesIntoCluster(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtime, images []string, cluster *k3d.Cluster, keepTarball bool) error {
+func LoadImagesIntoCluster(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtime, images []string, cluster *k3d.Cluster, loadImageOpts k3d.LoadImageOpts) error {
 	cluster, err := k3dc.GetCluster(ctx, runtime, cluster)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("Failed to find the specified cluster")
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ func LoadImagesIntoCluster(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtime, images
 		log.Errorf("Failed to start tools container for cluster '%s'", cluster.Name)
 	}
 
+	/* TODO:
+	 * Loop over list of images and check, whether they are files (tar archives) and sort them respectively
+	 * Special case: '-' means "read from stdin"
+	 * 1. From daemon: save images -> import
+	 * 2. From file: copy file -> import
+	 * 3. From stdin: save to tar -> import
+	 * Note: temporary storage location is always the shared image volume and actions are always executed by the tools node
+	 */
 	// save image to tarfile in shared volume
 	log.Infoln("Saving images...")
 	tarName := fmt.Sprintf("%s/k3d-%s-images-%s.tar", k3d.DefaultImageVolumeMountPath, cluster.Name, time.Now().Format("20060102150405")) // FIXME: change
@@ -104,7 +112,7 @@ func LoadImagesIntoCluster(ctx context.Context, runtime runtimes.Runtime, images
 	importWaitgroup.Wait()
 
 	// remove tarball
-	if !keepTarball {
+	if !loadImageOpts.KeepTar {
 		log.Infoln("Removing the tarball...")
 		if err := runtime.ExecInNode(ctx, cluster.Nodes[0], []string{"rm", "-f", tarName}); err != nil { // TODO: do this in tools node (requires rm)
 			log.Errorf("Failed to delete tarball '%s'", tarName)
diff --git a/pkg/types/types.go b/pkg/types/types.go
index dd67d33e..d9251107 100644
--- a/pkg/types/types.go
+++ b/pkg/types/types.go
@@ -142,6 +142,11 @@ type StartNodeOpts struct {
 	Timeout time.Duration
 }
 
+// LoadImageOpts describes a set of options one can set for loading image(s) into cluster(s)
+type LoadImageOpts struct {
+	KeepTar bool
+}
+
 // ClusterNetwork describes a network which a cluster is running in
 type ClusterNetwork struct {
 	Name     string `yaml:"name" json:"name,omitempty"`