I am ingesting a folder of pictures. I am asking PM to rename the files at the same time (hoping that names created by my camera would be replaced with something meaningful). After pictures are ingested a contact sheet is showing the new file names. So far all is expected. But when I go back to Finder source folder the filenames are still unchanged. Do I understand it correctly that PM should rename the original file names? If I close PM and come back to browse the same source folder contact sheet the names are unchanged , so the names PM did change in the first place during ingest didn't get saved in the file.
I am probably doing something wrong.
You're not doing anything wrong, you're just misunderstanding what Ingest does. Ingest is an image downloader. Meaning it copies files from the source to a destination and during the copy it can do things like rename the destination file, IPTC caption the destination file, etc. It does nothing with the source files unless you are ingesting from a camera card and you tell it to erase after Ingest and in that case it will erase all downloaded files so you can shoot some more pictures on your card.
If the photos are already on your computer and you just want to rename them, open up the folder containing the photos, select them and use the rename command. The renaming will be reflected in the Finder, just as it was with your destination files.
If ever you want to find out where in the Finder a particular photo resides, you can right-click on the thumbnail (ctrl-click if you have a one-button mouse) and choose "Reveal in Finder" from the contextual menu.
p.s. BTW is the QuickStartGuide.pdf the only manual available? I normally don't need manuals much, but for somebody who is new to image tags, IPTc etc. I find manual kind of short.
A full manual is coming shortly.
-Kirk