Just tested out inkscape with 10 random 5,000 x 5,000 images embeded - save time ~5 seconds, load time ~11 seconds. Total svg file size ~200Mb. Inkscape definitely isn't a perfect piece of software, but it should be able to handle what you need

I typically use GIMP or Inkscape. Never had issues with importing lots of images into Inkscape, which is vector based, but that may depend on the resolution you import them at.

One of my favorite genera! Super charismatic

An orange assassin bug with white dots (Heniartes spp.) strutting on a leaf

A polka-dotted Assassin bug (Heniartes spp.) hunting on a leaf in central Amazonas, Brazil #insects #bugoftheday #42

A metallic blue Cobalt Milkweed Beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus) and a Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) on a Showy Milkweed inflorescence (Asclepias speciosa). The Honey Bee is after the copious nectar these flowers produce, while the beetle is more interested in eating the flowers themselves.

A Cobalt Milkweed Beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus) meets a European Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) on a Showy Milkweed flower in southern Idaho #insects #bugoftheday #41

Arrowhead Orbweaver (Verrucosa arenata) with a white and black arrowhead shaped body hanging in its web in Costa Rica

An Arrowhead Orbweaver (Verrucosa arenata) spotted in Costa Rica #spiders #bugoftheday #40

A Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) hanging off of and drinking from a flower of Narrowleaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis)

A Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) nectaring from a Narrowleaf Milkweed inflorescence #insects #bugoftheday #39

A Mediterranean Mantis (Iris oratoria) hanging upside-down from a bike tire

A Mediterranean Mantis (Iris oratoria) hanging out on my bike tire in Davis, California #insects #bugoftheday #38

Five cicada molts on the end of a tree branch in the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden

Large Brown Cicada (Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata) molts on a tree branch, spotted last August in Kyoto, Japan #insects #bugoftheday #37

One of those rare flying crabs

The ground beetle Opisthius richardsoni resting on the mud bank of the Queets river

A predatory ground beetle (Opisthius richardsoni) found hunting on the banks of the Queets river on the Olympic peninsula #insects #bugoftheday #36

A Crethon Daggerwing (Marpesia crethon) drinking from a sand beach

A Crethon Daggerwing (Marpesia crethon) puddling on the bank of the Rio Nushino in eastern Ecuador #insects #bugoftheday #35

A giant Silk Moth (Rothschildia sp.) with transparent windows in each wing hanging on to a wire at a light trap

A giant Silk Moth (Rothschildia sp.) attracted to a light trap in the cloud forest in central Ecuador #insects #bugoftheday #34

A green wandering spider (Gephyroctenus sp.) resting in green moss on the side of a tree

A well camouflaged wandering spider (Gephyroctenus sp.), spotted in Amazonas, Brazil. #arachnids #bugoftheday #33

A screenshot from a paper with a sentence that reads "In total, our database contained 412,452 vegetation plots", followed by ~130 in-text citations

This is certainly one way to use citations

Duponchel's Sphinx (Cocytius duponchel) resting on sandy ground. Wingspan is ~11cm

Duponchel's Sphinx (Cocytius duponchel) resting on the ground after visiting a blacklight in the Brazilian Amazon near Manaus. #insects #bugoftheday #32

A Broad-shouldered Leaf Beetle (Platyphora sp.) with brown and white stripes resting on my hand

A Broad-shouldered Leaf Beetle (Platyphora
sp.) spotted in Amazonas, Brazil. This genus tends to sequester toxins from the plants they eat, so probably would not taste very good #insects #bugoftheday #31

A male Longhorn bee (Melissodes sp.) on a yellow rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) inflorescence

A male Longhorn bee (Melissodes sp.) nectaring on Rubber Rabbitbrush. Bees in this tribe (Eucerini) get their name from the males' distinctive long antennae #insects #bugoftheday #30

Was worried my last proposal wouldn't get funded because this administration doesn't want to fund anything to do with climate change. Turns out it's going to get flagged because it uses the phrase "bee diversity"

A Cactus Chimney Bee (Diadasia sp) after foraging in a pink prickly pear flower (Opuntia sp.)

A Cactus Chimney Bee (Diadasia sp.) peaking out of a prickly pear flower #insects #bugoftheday #29

A Snail-eating Beetle in the genus Scaphinotus walking on a rotten log

A Snail-eating Beetle (Scaphinotus sp.) spotted in Redwoods National Park on the Pacific coast #insects #bugoftheday #28

The Snakefly Agulla bicolor resting on the flowerhead of an Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)

A Bicolored Snakefly (Agulla bicolor) resting on a Balsamroot flower #insects #bugoftheday #28

A brown and yellow Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) resting on a leaf in the sun

A sharpie drawing of a dragonfly with the text "dragon zone" under it, drawn on a nearby footbridge

A Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) Sunning on a leaf, and some nearby graffiti #insects #bugoftheday #27

Two Shoulder-streaked Firetips (Pyrrhopyge papius) with black wings and red racing stripes

A pair of Shoulder-streaked Firetips (Pyrrhopyge papius), spotted on the side of the road near Cosanga, Ecuador #insects #bugoftheday #26

Leaf cutter bee (Megachile sp., likely subgenus Megachiloides) on Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa).

She hold her abdomen up in the air when drinking nectar, giving us a nice view of all the pollen suck to its underside

A female Leafcutter bee (Megachile sp.) feeding from Rubber Rabbitbrush. Unlike honey bees and their relatives which gather pollen on their legs, Leafcutters collect pollen on the undersides of their abdomens - very visible here! #insects #bugoftheday #25

Some days I'm mosquito, but these last few weeks have been frog

A Long-Legged fly in the genus Condylostylus with an iridescent green body, standing on a leaf

An iridescent Long-Legged fly (Condylostylus sp.) resting on a leaf in Costa Rica #insects #bugoftheday #24

A longhorn beetle (Grammoptera subargentata) feeding on pollen from a pink Anemone flower

Flower Longhorn Beetle (Grammoptera subargentata) feeding on Anemone pollen by the edge of the Puget Sound, Washington #insects #bugoftheday #23

Macrophotography of a snowbank in the sun, with light catching large ice crystals

Terrible day for both my space heater and electric kettle to break. at least the snow is pretty

A male Field Skipper (called Sachem in the US, Atalopedes campestris) feeding from Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa)

Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) feeding from Curlycup Gumweed. Photo taken at the northern edge of their summer range #insects #bugoftheday #22