Adding text boxes, etc on top of background image (bitmap)

Question

I have an image (saved as a bitmap that I created in a drawing program) and I want to add it as a background to one of my panels in my swing application. I need to be able to put stuff on top of it, such as text boxes, etc. What is the best way to get this image as the background????

Answer 1

I converted the image to a jpg and tried to then used the code in the thread though my situation is a little different since I want to add the image as a backdrop of a JPanel which is inturn a tab on a JtabbedPane. I use the following code but it doesnt seem to work
ImageIcon icon = new ImageIcon("backdrop.jpg");
JPanel jPanel13 = new JPanel() {
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
// Approach 2: Scale image to size of component
Dimension d = getSize();
g.drawImage(icon.getImage(), 0, 0, d.width, d.height, null);
setOpaque(false);
super.paintComponent(g);
tabbedPane.add(jPanel13, "System Status");