Adobe website Photoshop tutorials

OK, maybe it's me, but....

I just ran through a couple of tutorials on the Adobe website and kept running into deadends with them. Either they don't explain a step thoroughly enough, or they simply don't make any sense. I'm a fairly experienced user, not a beginner, so even reading between the lines on a few of them still left me lost.

The one that really made me feel stupid was this tip:

To fix an overexposed photo using Adobe® Photoshop® CS2, lower the Opacity of your top layer to around 50%. Once the photo looks properly exposed, choose the Flatten Image from the Layers palette's flyout menu.

I tried this and it does nothing at all. Have they missed out a step? If anyone's got a minute to give that a go and see what result you get, I'd be most appreciative.

I might be mistaken (I am fairly new to the post processing world) but I believe the mode of the top layer needs to be changed. I am not positive but I think it should be overlay.
I guess the article is assuming that this will darken the image too much and therefore suggests reducing the opacity to decrease the darkening effect. If the image is severely overexposed, more layers can be added.

My guess will be the top layer is a duplicate of the photo, then change the blend mode to multiply, then lower the Opacity of your top layer to around 50%.

Thats how i do it anyways!!

open your image and Press Ctrl J to copy the background layer so you have 2 layers showing the same image. Change the blending mode to MULTIPLY if the image is OVEREXPOSED and reduce opacity to suit. If it is still over exposed, create a copy of the 2nd layer and increae/decrease opacity to suit.

SCREEN mode will help with Underexposed shots.

Overlay and soft light add saturation and contrast. best used in small doses (20% or less although some images may like more.