Loading up an image into a Jpanel!! HELP!!

Question

Hi,
With regards to the following code, I was wondering if anyone could help me. I am in the early stages of making a basic Image Editing program, and have managed to implement the following code. The thing is, when you load up an image, it seems to always position it in the top left corner of the container - overwiting all menus, buttons placed underneath. Why is this??
I need the image to appear in the JPanel/canvas below the toolbar and not on top of it!!
I hope someone out there can help me!
Thanks,
a very confused girl :(
SAMPLE CODE:-
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.net.*;
import javax.swing.filechooser.*;
public class ImageMaker extends JFrame implements ActionListener
     String kBanner = "ImageMaker v1.0";
     JPanel contentPane;
     JButton loadButton;
     JToolBar toolBar;
     JMenuBar menuBar;
     JMenu fileMenu;
     JMenuItem fileOpenMenuItem;
     public BufferedImage mBufferedImage;
     public ImageMaker(String fileName)
          Container appWindow = getContentPane();
          setTitle(kBanner);
          appWindow.setLayout(new BorderLayout(5,5));
          menuBar = new JMenuBar();
          setJMenuBar(menuBar);
          fileMenu = new JMenu("File");
          menuBar.add(fileMenu);
          fileOpenMenuItem = new JMenuItem("Open");
          fileMenu.add(fileOpenMenuItem);
          fileOpenMenuItem.addActionListener(this);
          toolBar = new JToolBar();
          loadButton = new JButton("Open");
          loadButton.addActionListener(this);
          toolBar.add(loadButton);
          contentPane = new JPanel();
          appWindow.add( BorderLayout.NORTH, toolBar);
          appWindow.add( BorderLayout.SOUTH, contentPane);
     public void loadImage(String fileName)
          Image image = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(fileName);
          MediaTracker mt = new MediaTracker(this);
          mt.addImage(image, 0);
          try { mt.waitForID(0); }
          catch (InterruptedException ie) { return; }
          if (mt.isErrorID(0)) return;
          mBufferedImage = new BufferedImage(image.getWidth(null),
                                                     image.getHeight(null),
                                           BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
          Graphics2D g2 = mBufferedImage.createGraphics();
          g2.drawImage(image, null, null);
          validate();
          repaint();
          setTitle(kBanner + ": " + fileName);
     public void paint(Graphics g)
          super.paint(g);
          if (mBufferedImage == null) return;
          Insets insets = getInsets();
          g.drawImage(mBufferedImage, insets.left, insets.top, null);
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
          JFileChooser fd = new JFileChooser();
          int returnVal=fd.showOpenDialog(ImageMaker.this);
          if(returnVal==JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
                    if (fd.getSelectedFile() == null)
                       { return; }
                    File file=fd.getSelectedFile();
                    String path=(String)file.getPath();
                    loadImage(path);
          JMenu men = (JMenu) ae.getSource();
          String label = (String) men.getText();
          JButton butt = (JButton) ae.getSource();
          String butt2 = (String) butt.getText();
          if (label.equals("Open"))
         else if (label.equals("Save"))
     }//end ActionListener
     public static void main(String[] args)
          String fileName = "default";
          if (args.length > 0) fileName = args[0];
          ImageMaker img=new ImageMaker(fileName);
          img.setSize(800,600);
          img.show();
}

Answer 1

Hi,
Thank you for your help.
I have done what you suggested and created this code below using the paintComponent.
It compiles, but when i run it i get an error ("Uncaught error fetching image: java.lang.NullPointerExecption"). I was hoping you could advise me further as i am really struggling to get this basic app running propely.
Thanks againfor your help.
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.net.*;
import javax.swing.filechooser.*;
import javax.swing.plaf.basic.*;
public class TLookupOp extends JFrame
{     DisplayPanel displayPanel;
     JButton loadButton;
     public BufferedImage mBufferedImage;
     Graphics2D g2;
     String path;
     JFileChooser fd;
          public TLookupOp()
          {super("Test");
          Container container=getContentPane();
          container.setLayout(new BorderLayout(5,5));
          displayPanel=new DisplayPanel(path);
          container.add(displayPanel);
          JPanel panel=new JPanel();
          loadButton = new JButton("Open");
          loadButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener()
          {public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
                    fd = new JFileChooser();
                    int returnVal=fd.showOpenDialog(TLookupOp.this);
                    if(returnVal==JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION )
                              if (fd.getSelectedFile() == null)
                                 { return; }
                              File file=fd.getSelectedFile();
                              path=(String)file.getPath();
                              //displayPanel=new DisplayPanel(path);
                              //displayPanel.loadImage(path);
         loadButton.setToolTipText("Click to load an image.");
          panel.add(loadButton);
          container.add( BorderLayout.NORTH, panel);
          addWindowListener(new WindowEventHandler());
          setSize(displayPanel.getWidth(),displayPanel.getHeight()+25);
          show();
          class WindowEventHandler extends WindowAdapter
          {public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
          {System.exit(0);
          public static void main(String[] args)
          {new TLookupOp();
class DisplayPanel extends JPanel
{Image image;
BufferedImage mBufferedImage;
Graphics2D g2;
String filepath;
DisplayPanel(String path)
{ filepath=path;
      loadImage(filepath);
setSize(image.getWidth(this), image.getWidth(this));
createBufferedImage();
public void loadImage(String fileName)
          Image image = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(fileName);
          MediaTracker mt = new MediaTracker(this);
          mt.addImage(image, 0);
          try { mt.waitForID(0); }
          catch (InterruptedException ie) { return; }
          if (mt.isErrorID(0)) return;
public void createBufferedImage()
{mBufferedImage=new BufferedImage(image.getWidth(null),
                                                     image.getHeight(null),
                                           BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
g2 = mBufferedImage.createGraphics();
g2.drawImage(image,0,0,this);
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
          super.paintComponent(g);
          Graphics2D g2D=(Graphics2D) g;
          g2D.drawImage(mBufferedImage,0,0,this);
}