So, I went and tried out Adobe's online version of Photoshop, Photoshop Express. It requires the absolute latest version of Flash (my browser wouldn't run it until I upgraded Flash), yet it is so lacking in some really basic features, it shocks me.

I also have a simple image editing program, constructed in Flash, though mine only requires like a 2003 version of Flash to run. Now it doesn't offer a lot of the fancy effects, but that's mainly because it's a drawing program rather than a photo editing program. But the one thing it does is let you draw on a photo. You can draw boxes and various other shapes, then put text in them, so you can add a label or caption to the photo. You can also add clip art, so you can layer on a funny hat and fake moustache.

Now, the thing is that Adobe has been honest that this is a teaser. It's got basic functions to get you to get comfortable with Adobe and then pay $99 to upgrade to Photoshop Elements when you realize how totally dissatisfied you are with the free offering. But between various open source desktop apps (like Inkscape and GIMP), and various web 2.0 photo sharing sites that are adding features all the time... why would you want to upgrade? And aside from a few special effects and tuning bits, I'm not seeing that Adobe is really offering much more than you can find free on the web.

In the end, I'm not the target market for Photoshop Express, but it doesn't look like it's even worth "FREE" because you can find so much more functional stuff for free already. Considering how easy it is to add text on top of photos with Flash and how many fonts Adobe owns, I'm really surprised they're leaving such an essential function out. $99 to write on a photo when you can do it for free with FunDraw or a bevy of other online and offline tools. WTF?