IBooks Author slow, screen blinks

Hello,
iBooks Author (2.0) used to work fine on my MacBook Pro, although my computer is 5 years old. Lately, however, it has been running slowly and every time I try to do something, the whole document blinks and then comes back several times.
I've tried deleting the preferences, but that didn't help.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Eli

Hi again,
I now have 30 GB free HD space. The problem of a blinking screen, especially when working with widgets, is still there. In Activity Monitor, I can see that when the screen blinks, iBook Author's CPU usage goes sky high, once as high as 127%. What does that mean? How can I stop it?
Thanks,
Eli

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Thunderstorm played havoc with box from my ISP - and I am ruuning on a reserve and internet access flaky!
but, here goes with one reply. Will have to wait later re tests for your other suggestions when weather calmed down
Re 'as Apple suggessted' I should have said - no larger than 5000 x 5000 pixels (the 3240 was my vertical proportional dimension from choosing 5000 horizintal dimension)
this is from Ibooks Author help
Add and edit photos and other images
You can add a photo or other image (in a supported file type) to a page in your book by dragging the photo from theMedia Browser, the Finder, or another application.
After adding a photo to your book and positioning it on the page, you can use the tools in iBooks Author to mask (crop) the photo; change its brightness, contrast, and other image qualities; or erase its background.
Important: When you export your book for distribution outside the iBookstore, images are automatically scaled to a width of 2048 pixels, which is optimized for iPad with Retina display. Readers can view these images on other iPad models, but the viewing experience might be slower. You can improve the viewing experience on iPad models without Retina display by using images no wider than 1024 pixels.
ShowMask (crop) a photo
ShowChange a photo’s brightness, contrast, and other settings
ShowRemove the background or unwanted elements from a photo
Important: Images can’t be larger than 25 megapixels (5000 x 5000 pixels) or 50 MB.
SEE ALSO
Add an accessibility description to an object
Add a title, label, or caption to an object
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IBooks Author slow, screen blinks

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