It's no secret that if you put a lot of images in you e-book, that it'll get huge (file size) and the book will be slow to download. Lot's of software is available to compress (make smaller) GIF's and JPG's, but you might want to check out the "close out" now available on-line (and at some stores). Paint Shop Pro 7 is being replaced by version 8. PSP is as close as you can get to Adobe's "industry standard" PhotoShop, but at 1/5 the price. PSP normally it sells for $100, but you can get it now for $20 (with a bunch of rebates). The point is that it has a very good JPG and GIF compressor built-in (GIF compressors are fairly rare; JPG's compressors are common). Plus, PSP has just about every other feature you can imagine (and then some), and is not nearly as complex as PhotoShop. Surf the net and you'll find some places offering the close-out. I have nothing to gain from this, but it is an amazing deal.
There is aree FULL copy of Paintshop Pro version 5 (which is not the latest but not all that old either) on the cover CD-ROM of Practical Internet Magazine Issue 79.
Alas! I still use my old PSP 3.0 so this will elude me until I get around to upgrading. I'll hunt around, though 'cause that's quite a bargain at 1/5 the going rate! I don't know if the compression is as good, but Spinwave's Graphics Crunchers for JPG and GIFs can be utilized online for no cost at many sites that have their sampler code going. Handy if you have a brain storm (or deadline) and aren't working on your own computer, but a client's or at school, and have web access, but no Photoshop or PSP.
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I'll hunt around, though 'cause that's quite a bargain at 1/5 the going rate! 