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Creating an Image Icon from a local file for eclipse

So I am trying to add an image to a JLabel object which is added to a JPanel called "topPanel" which is part of a JFrame called
"primaryWindow". I have already declared the "topPanel" and "primaryWindow". I found on other forms that you have to create a separate source folder and add the image file in that folder in order to access it and I did so.
However, when I execute the following, the image does not appear to be on the Label. I know that it has nothing to do with adding the JLabel to the panel properly because when I enter a String into the JLabel constructor, the String appears on the panel. An image however does not appear. Am I properly adding the image? I am using a mac if this helps.
private JLabel image = new JLabel();
image.setIcon(new ImageIcon("Check.png"));
topPanel.add(image);
primaryWindow.add(topPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);

You can also use BufferedImage
BufferedImage myPicture = ImageIO.read(new File("C:\\xx\\xxx\\Check.png.jpg"));
Image scaled = myPicture.getScaledInstance(100,70,Image.SCALE_SMOOTH);
image = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(scaled));
topPanel.add(image);
primaryWindow.add(topPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
Note that "C:\\xx\\xxx\\Check.png.jpg" is the path where you save Check.png.
Hope this helped.

The ImageIcon that you passed into the setIcon method of the JLabel could be null. Have you tried to check if it is null before calling setIcon? If you create a "res" resource folder in the root directory of your project, you could try the following:
image.setIcon(new ImageIcon(ImageIO.read(new File("res/Check.png"))));
Additionally, if you are using Eclipse, you should try and refresh the project directory by right clicking and pressing refresh; sometimes Eclipse doesn't register files added.
Lastly, try setting the background of the JPanel to a certain color to see if it is displaying it and make sure its width and height are not 0 (it is possible that the layout you are using changed its size).

How to change java icon in a JFrame

Ok so I've been researching this one quiet a bit. I am fairly new to java but thought that this one would be easy. Ive tried just about every way that has been answered on this site and still no luck, and usually when I look here I am able to find a answer that fits what I am looking for. Does anyone know how to change the Java icon in the top corner of the JFrame. I'm pretty positive that its not my file path either because all my images are in the same folder and they all work, this is the only one that I can't seem to get to work.
This is the first part my code for the main menu of my program, everything works except when i try to add the icon image. The code I've entered below does not have anything in it for the JFrame IconImage, I removed it since it didn't work. So if there is someone who knows how to get it working with this code that would be highly appreciated, thank you very much in advanced!
public class MainFrame
{
private MyPanel main;
private MyPanel2 create;
private MyPanel3 update;
private MyPanel4 find;
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Main Menu:");
public void displayGUI()
{
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel contentPane = new JPanel();
contentPane.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEmptyBorder(0, 0, 0, 0));
contentPane.setLayout(new CardLayout());
main = new MyPanel(contentPane, this);
create = new MyPanel2(contentPane);
update = new MyPanel3(contentPane);
find = new MyPanel4(contentPane);
contentPane.add(main, "Main Menu");
contentPane.add(create, "Create Part");
contentPane.add(update, "Update Part");
contentPane.add(find, "Find Part");
frame.setLocation(200, 200);
frame.setSize(700, 580);
frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
frame.setVisible(true);
}

I have an answer for you. First, make sure that the images are in a folder, not a package. Next, insert this line of code:
Image image = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(getClass().getResource("path/to/image.png"));
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon( );
setIconImage(icon.getImage());
This code gets the image from the class path, and returns it as a image icon, and then it sets it. This should add the image icon to the application. If it doesn't, then tell me.
EDIT: After you told me that that didn't work then I decided to take a second crack at it...
First, put your images into a completely separate folder. I usually call this /res. Next, put your image in there. Now, for loading I took a completely different route. I decided to use ImageIO instead of default loading. To load the image, you use this code:
try {
frame.setIconImage(ImageIO.read(new File("res/icon.png")));
}
catch (IOException exc) {
exc.printStackTrace();
}
ImageIO works a lot better for loading images. If this still doesn't work then please tell me.
If you want to export this as a JAR then put a folder the same name as you used in the program in the same directory as the JAR.

For example in a NetBeans project, create a resources folder in the src folder.
Put your images (jpg, ...) in there.
Whether you use ImageIO or Toolkit (including getResource),
you must include a leading / in your path to the image file:
Image image = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(getClass().getResource("/resources/agfa_icon.jpg"));
setIconImage(image);
If this code is inside your JFrame class, the image is added to the frame as an icon in your title bar.

This works pretty fine for me.
Just add this after you've created your JFrame.
try {
Image image = new ImageIcon("/icons/image.jpg").getImage();
frame.setIconImage(image);
}catch(Exception e){
System.out.println("Application icon not found");
}

Paste your image icon (fav.png) in the same package first,
Write following code in constructor of JFrame:
setIconImage(Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(getClass().getResource("fav.png")));
Note:- fav.png is the name of icon

this.setIconImage(new ImageIcon(getClass().getResource("/iconsfolder/iconsname.jpg")).getImage());
// sets the Global icon for the system
try this code put after this code:
public void displayGUI()
{

Packaging a program containing images

I'm having massive issues packaging my java program which contains images into a jar for conversion into and executable file. The images have been used in the background of the program and buttons. Please see the diagram below which shows the program I desire to convert to a jar.
IMAGE
As you see above the program runs OK. I created the same program with no custom background and custom buttons containing no images and I successfully packaged it into a jar and subsequently into an .exe file.
With regards to drawing my background I'm doing this as follows:
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
Image img = new ImageIcon("imgs/Bgnd1.jpg").getImage();
Dimension size = new Dimension(img.getWidth(null), img.getHeight(null));
setPreferredSize(size);
setMinimumSize(size);
setMaximumSize(size);
setSize(size);
setLayout(null);
g.drawImage(img, 0, 0, null);
}
With regards to creating my 4 custom buttons with images, I'm doing the following:
// Prepare rollover images
ImageIcon F1 = new ImageIcon("imgs/btn_f1_not_selected.jpg");
ImageIcon F1rollOver = new ImageIcon("imgs/btn_f1_selected.jpg");
// Create F1 button
final JButton btnF1 = new JButton(F1);
//btnF1.setOpaque(false);
btnF1.setContentAreaFilled(false);
btnF1.setBorder(null);
btnF1.setBorderPainted(false);
btnF1.setFocusPainted(false);
btnF1.setRolloverIcon(F1rollOver);
I attempted placing the images in the bin folder and for the creation of the background I altered the above method with regards to the declaration/fetching of the image.
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
String path = "Bgnd11.jpg";
java.net.URL imgURL = getClass().getResource(path);
Image img = new ImageIcon(imgURL).getImage();
Dimension size = new Dimension(img.getWidth(observer), img.getHeight(observer));
setPreferredSize(size);
setMinimumSize(size);
setMaximumSize(size);
setSize(size);
setLayout(null);
g.drawImage(img, 0, 0, null);
}
I also attempted fetching the images needed for the creation of my buttons as indicated below and then passing them to my button but this did not work.
String path = "Bgnd11.jpg";
java.net.URL imgURL = getClass().getResource(path);
Image img = new ImageIcon(imgURL).getImage();
How to locate & load the images?

In your first attempt, you're loading images from the file system, in the current directory, which is the directory from which the java of javaw command is started. That's what prevents you from bundling the images with your applications. Obviously, the end user of your app won't have the images in his current directory, and his current directory will change depending on how he launches the application.
You should instead have the images packaged inside the jar file, and thus be present in the classpath, and thus load them using the ClassLoader as you're doing in your second attempt.
Let's say they're in the folder /resources/images of the jar, which thus corresponds to the package resources.images.
Using getClass().getResource("Bgnd11.jpg"), as the javadoc indicates, tries to find Bgnd11.jpg in the same package as the class returned by getClass(). So, it would work in our example if the class was in the package resources.images. If it's not, you should use the absolute path of the resource:
URL imgURL = getClass().getResource("/resources/images/Bgnd11.jpg");
Also, don't mess with the bin folder. This is the destination folder of Eclipse, and doing a clean build will remove everything from this directory. Just add the images to the appropriate package in the source directory, and Eclipse will automatically copy them to the destination directory when building the project.

JFrame's icon not displaying

I've got a Java application with Swing's JFrame as a main GUI unit. I've set the icon to it via setIconImage(). When I run this program in NetBeans, everything works fine and the frame's icon displays. But when I compile it and try to run jar-file (with JRE7), the application has standard icon with Duke. How do I change that icon when running app outside NetBeans?
UPD:
OK, here's the code:
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException{
URL imgUrl = Polygon.class.getResource("/imgs/icon.png");
Image img = ImageIO.read(imgUrl);
JFrame f = new JFrame();
f.setSize(new Dimension(500, 500));
f.setIconImage(img);
f.setVisible(true);
}
UPD2:
I've added this line to the end of the code:
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, new ImageIcon(img));
Everything's fine with the image! It loads! BUT it's not displayed as the icon.

When you run the application from inside Netbeans, the files from your project folder are available, but if you run the compiled JAR yourself they may not.
Read this example (note the comments) to load your image properly.

Try getClass().getResource("imgs/icon.png"). It works for me. Note the difference between absolute and relative path. You may not need the leading /.

Why is there no image when running from a .jar file?

I'm trying to make my panel show image as background. I already can do that in NetBeans, but when I build my jar and run it image doesn't show there. I know I have to access it differently. I have seen many tutorials but every one of them shows how to do it with ImageIcon, but I don't need that, I need just Image. Can anyone point out what piece of code do I need to do this? Thanks.
This is my code for backgrounded JPanel:
public class JPanelWB extends JPanel { // Creates JPanel with given image as background.
private Image backgroundImage;
public JPanelWB(String fileName){
try {
backgroundImage = ImageIO.read(new File(fileName));
} catch (IOException ex) {
new JDialog().add(new Label("Could not open image."+ex.getMessage()));
}
}
#Override
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
// Draw the background image.
g.drawImage(backgroundImage, 0, 0, getWidth(),getHeight(),this);
}
}

Yeah, you're trying to read in the image as a file -- don't do that since files don't exist within a Jar file. Instead read it in as a resource.
Something like so:
public JPanelWB(String resourceName){
try {
// backgroundImage = ImageIO.read(new File(resourceName));
backgroundImage = ImageIO.read(getClass().getResource(resourceName));
} catch (IOException ex) {
new JDialog().add(new Label("Could not open image."+ex.getMessage()));
}
}
But note that resource path is different from file path. The resource path is relative to the location of your class files.

If you want to read new image and import it as background, people smarter than me already answered your question.
But, if your problem is similar to mine, then this migh help:
If you already have images to show, then the point is to call them from absolute path. Executable class form JAR will read drive created inside virtual machine, not the physical drive in your computer.
Put images in short-pathed folder like
C:\J\proj\img\
and call them with absolute path like
"C:\\J\\proj\\img\\your_image.png" // (Don't forget the double backslashes.)
(If you don't mind path lenght, leave them in image folder inside your project package, and call them from there.)
NetBeans will pack them into JAR with absolute path. On execution JRE will create JVM with that path in it, take the images from JAR and put them to that virtual path. Class will be able to find them, because it doesn't read path from physical drive, but from own virtual one newly created inside JVM.
In that case avoiding ImageIcon is just more clutter, not less.
You can add "blackBoard" as JLabel to be background to your JFrame, set its layout to null, something like this:
private JLabel blackBoard;
private JLabel noteToSelf;
//.....
blackBoard = new JLabel();
noteToSelf = new JLabel();
//.....
// putting JLabel "blackBoard" as background into JFrame
blackBoard.setIcon(new ImageIcon("c:\\Java\\images\\MarbleTable.png"));
getContentPane().add(blackBoard);
blackBoard.setBounds(1, 1, 400, 440);
blackBoard.setLayout(null);
and then add components into "blackBoard" instead of your JFrame, like this.
// putting JLabel "noteToSelf" onto background
noteToSelf.setIcon(new ImageIcon("c:\\Java\\images\\Sticker_a1.png"));
// or: noteToSelf.setText("Remind me at 6:30am...");
blackBoard.add(noteToSelf);
noteToSelf.setBounds(noteX, noteY, 64, 48);
Now your JFrame is table board and "blackBoard" is table sheet on it.
Hope this helps.