Squished JButtons

Question

I'm trying to make a JFrame that will cycle through several Images (VCR-like).
I've tried various methods, all with the same basic results. The image comes up fine, but the 4 buttons (first, previous, next, last) are all squished at the bottom (should be 36x36 icons - gifs really - but are displaying as about 25x10) and are unreadable. They are coming up in the correct order and work properly, it's just impossible for the operator to know what they do without the icon.
I've tried making a BorderLayout JPanel on the content pane, put the image in the CENTER and the 4 buttons in the SOUTH.
I've tried making a BoxLayout JPanel (Y-Axis) on the content pane with the image added first and the button panel (built on a BoxLayout (X-Axis)) second.
I've tried forcing the size of the buttons by setting the minimum size to the size of the GIF files.
I've run out of ideas.
Below is what I currently have, which builds the main panel with a BoxLayout in the Y-Axis then adds the image as a JLabel, builds another JPanel for the buttons (which is a BoxLayout in the X-Axis) which is added to the main panel.
public class ImageReview
             extends JFrame
   private int index = 0;
   private int numImages = 0;
   private ImageIcon[] images = null;
   private JLabel imageLabel = null;
   private JPanel mainPanel = null;
   private String FIRST_BUTTON = "firstArrowIcon.gif";
   private String PREV_BUTTON = "previousArrowIcon.gif";
   private String NEXT_BUTTON = "nextArrowIcon.gif";
   private String LAST_BUTTON = "lastArrowIcon.gif";
   public ImageReview (ImageIcon[] images)
      super ("Image Review");
      setSize (640, 550);
      Container contentPane = getContentPane();
      mainPanel = new JPanel ();
      mainPanel.setLayout (new BoxLayout (mainPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
      numImages = images.length;
      this.images = new ImageIcon[numImages];
      for (int i=0 ; i<numImages ; i++)
         this.images[i] = images;
JPanel imagePanel = new JPanel ();
imageLabel = new JLabel (this.images[0]);
imagePanel.add (imageLabel);
mainPanel.add (imagePanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
mainPanel.add (Box.createVerticalStrut (10));
index=0;
JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();
buttonPanel.setLayout (new BoxLayout (buttonPanel, BoxLayout.X_AXIS));
buttonPanel.add (createButton (FIRST_BUTTON));
buttonPanel.add (createButton (PREV_BUTTON));
buttonPanel.add (createButton (NEXT_BUTTON));
buttonPanel.add (createButton (LAST_BUTTON));
mainPanel.add (buttonPanel);
mainPanel.add (Box.createVerticalStrut (20));
contentPane.add (mainPanel);
private JButton createButton (String buttonType)
JButton button = new JButton ();
ImageIcon imageIcon = new ImageIcon (buttonType);
Image image = imageIcon.getImage();
button.setIcon (imageIcon);
Dimension preferredSize = new Dimension (imageIcon.getIconWidth (),
imageIcon.getIconHeight());
button.setMinimumSize (preferredSize);
button.setAction (new imageReviewAction (buttonType));
String tooltip = "Press to go to ";
if (buttonType == FIRST_BUTTON)
tooltip += "First";
else if (buttonType == PREV_BUTTON)
tooltip += "Previous";
else if (buttonType == NEXT_BUTTON)
tooltip += "Next";
else if (buttonType == LAST_BUTTON)
tooltip += "Last";
tooltip += " Image in List";
button.setToolTipText (tooltip);
return button;
class imageReviewAction
extends AbstractAction
private Button button = null;
public imageReviewAction (Button button)
this.button = button;
public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent e)
if (button == FIRST_BUTTON)
index = 0;
else if (button == PREV_BUTTON)
if (index > 0)
index--;
else if (button == NEXT_BUTTON)
if (index < numImages - 1)
index++;
else if (button == LAST_BUTTON)
index = numImages - 1;
else
// No other buttons, can't do anything.
imageLabel.setIcon (images[index]);

Answer 1

Had to make a lot of changes to your app to get it squared away. It compiles and runs okay; you can have a look.
I think the central problem of the button size is in this line:
button.setAction (new imageReviewAction (buttonType));
Setting the action removes the icon. One way around it is to change your AbstractAction class to an ActionListener.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.net.URL;
import javax.swing.*;
public class ImageReviewRx extends JFrame
    private ImageIcon[] icons = null;
    private JLabel imageLabel = null;
    private JPanel mainPanel = null;
    ImageReviewAction action;
    public ImageReviewRx ()
        super ("Image Review");
        setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setSize (640, 550);
        createIcons();
        action = new ImageReviewAction();
        mainPanel = new JPanel ();
        mainPanel.setLayout (new BorderLayout ());
        JPanel imagePanel = new JPanel ();
        imageLabel = new JLabel (icons[0]);
        imagePanel.add (imageLabel);
        mainPanel.add (imagePanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
        JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel();
        for(int j = 0; j < icons.length; j++)
            buttonPanel.add (createButton (j));
        mainPanel.add (buttonPanel, "South");
        Container contentPane = getContentPane();
        contentPane.add (mainPanel);
    private JButton createButton (int iconIndex)
        JButton button = new JButton ();
        int w = icons[iconIndex].getIconWidth();
        int h = icons[iconIndex].getIconHeight();
//        button.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(w,h));  // an option
        button.setIcon (icons[iconIndex]);
        button.addActionListener (action);
        String ac = "";
        switch(iconIndex)
            case 0:
                ac = "First";
                break;
            case 1:
                ac = "Previous";
                break;
            case 2:
                ac = "Next";
                break;
            case 3:
                ac = "Last";
        String tooltip = "Press to go to " + ac + " Image in List";
        button.setToolTipText (tooltip);
        button.setActionCommand(ac);
        return button;
    private void createIcons()
        String[] fileNames = {
            "firstArrowIcon.gif", "previousArrowIcon.gif",
            "nextArrowIcon.gif",  "lastArrowIcon.gif"
        icons = new ImageIcon[fileNames.length];
        for(int j = 0; j < icons.length; j++)
            URL url = getClass().getResource(fileNames[j]);
            icons[j] = new ImageIcon(url);
    class ImageReviewAction implements ActionListener
        int index = 0;
        public void actionPerformed (ActionEvent e)
            JButton button = (JButton)e.getSource();
            String ac = button.getActionCommand();
            if (ac.equals("First"))
                index = 0;
            if (ac.equals("Previous"))
                index--;
                if(index < 0)
                    index = icons.length - 1;
            if (ac.equals("Next"))
                index++;
                if(index > icons.length - 1)
                    index = 0;
            if (ac.equals("Last"))
                index = icons.length - 1;
            imageLabel.setIcon(icons[index]);
    public static void main(String[] args)
        ImageReviewRx rx = new ImageReviewRx();
        rx.setVisible(true);
}