Would I be correct in assuming that the free tools are meant mostly just to see what they can do and that the purchase of the tools would remove things such as the welcome screen blocking the picture that I'm trying to make changes to?

The free tools and the tools from the book are two completely different sets. You can actually use them in conjunction. One other benefit of using the tools from the book AND the free ones is that you do not have to use the Welcome screen to get to the freebees -- you can access the freebees from the OTHER tab in the book's tools on the HowTo palette. This palette is much friendlier.

Hope that helps!

BTW -- the website has been updated and should be accessible to everyone: http://hiddenelements.com