Setting up a background image for my menu and being resizable

So i am trying to make a Menu for a game i am working on.

I want to put an image as background at my menuPanel but i cant figure out how to let the image rescale every time i am raising the window. I have made a JLabel and i have imported an image from my main method and when i launch the game i can see that the image is correctly imported but i want to fill up all menuPanel and also stretch as i am raising the window to full screen or decreasing to the Minimum size of my frame.
How can i do that?

As you can see at the screenshot i want the text to be on top of the image and the image as a background and full screen.

public class Window extends Canvas{

	private static final long serialVersionUID = 6331412385749386309L;
	
	private static final int WIDTH = 1024, HEIGHT = WIDTH / 16 * 9;
	private JFrame frame;
	
	private JPanel mainPanel;
	private JPanel menuPanel;
	private JPanel buttonsPanel;
	private JPanel playPanel;
	private JPanel optionsPanel;
	
	private JButton playBtn;
	private JButton optionsBtn;
	private JButton quitBtn;
	
	private int currWidth = WIDTH, currHeight = HEIGHT;

	public Window(String title, Game game) {
		frame = new JFrame(title);
		
		frame.setSize(1024, 576);
		frame.setMinimumSize(new Dimension(WIDTH, HEIGHT));
		
		frame.requestFocus();
		frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
		frame.setResizable(true);
		frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
		menu();
		game.start();
	}
	
	private void menu() {
		frame.getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout(0, 0));
		mainPanel = new JPanel();
		mainPanel.setBackground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
		frame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
		mainPanel.setLayout(new CardLayout(0, 0));
		
		// menuPanel config
		menuPanel = new JPanel();
		menuPanel.setForeground(new Color(0, 0, 0));
		menuPanel.setBackground(new Color(0, 0, 0));
		mainPanel.add(menuPanel, "menuPanel");
		
		buttonsPanel = new JPanel();
		buttonsPanel.setBorder(null);
		buttonsPanel.setBackground(new Color(0, 0, 0));
		
			// playBtn config
		playBtn = new JButton("Play");
		playBtn.setForeground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
		playBtn.setFont(new Font("Segoe Script", Font.BOLD, 40));
		playBtn.setOpaque(false);
		playBtn.setContentAreaFilled(false);
		playBtn.setBorderPainted(false);
		playBtn.setFocusPainted(false);
		
			// optionsBtn config
		optionsBtn = new JButton("Options");
		optionsBtn.setForeground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
		optionsBtn.setFont(new Font("Segoe Script", Font.BOLD, 35));
		optionsBtn.setOpaque(false);
		optionsBtn.setContentAreaFilled(false);
		optionsBtn.setBorderPainted(false);
		optionsBtn.setFocusPainted(false);
		
			//quitBtn config
		quitBtn = new JButton("Quit");
		quitBtn.setForeground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
		quitBtn.setFont(new Font("Segoe Script", Font.BOLD, 35));
		quitBtn.setOpaque(false);
		quitBtn.setContentAreaFilled(false);
		quitBtn.setBorderPainted(false);
		quitBtn.setFocusPainted(false);
		
		GroupLayout gl_buttonsPanel = new GroupLayout(buttonsPanel);
		gl_buttonsPanel.setHorizontalGroup(
			gl_buttonsPanel.createParallelGroup(Alignment.TRAILING)
				.addGroup(gl_buttonsPanel.createSequentialGroup()
					.addContainerGap()
					.addGroup(gl_buttonsPanel.createParallelGroup(Alignment.LEADING)
						.addComponent(quitBtn, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, 175, Short.MAX_VALUE)
						.addComponent(playBtn, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, 175, Short.MAX_VALUE)
						.addComponent(optionsBtn, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, Short.MAX_VALUE))
					.addContainerGap())
		);
		gl_buttonsPanel.setVerticalGroup(
			gl_buttonsPanel.createParallelGroup(Alignment.LEADING)
				.addGroup(gl_buttonsPanel.createSequentialGroup()
					.addContainerGap()
					.addComponent(playBtn)
					.addPreferredGap(ComponentPlacement.RELATED)
					.addComponent(optionsBtn, GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE, 74, GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE)
					.addPreferredGap(ComponentPlacement.RELATED)
					.addComponent(quitBtn, GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE, 71, GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE)
					.addContainerGap(GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, Short.MAX_VALUE))
		);
		buttonsPanel.setLayout(gl_buttonsPanel);
		
		//
		JLabel menuImageLabel = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(Game.menu_image.getScaledInstance(700, 400, Image.SCALE_FAST)));
		//
		
		GroupLayout gl_menuPanel = new GroupLayout(menuPanel);
		gl_menuPanel.setHorizontalGroup(
			gl_menuPanel.createParallelGroup(Alignment.TRAILING)
				.addGroup(gl_menuPanel.createSequentialGroup()
					.addComponent(menuImageLabel, GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE, 762, GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE)
					.addGap(0)
					.addComponent(buttonsPanel, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, 195, Short.MAX_VALUE))
		);
		gl_menuPanel.setVerticalGroup(
			gl_menuPanel.createParallelGroup(Alignment.LEADING)
				.addGroup(gl_menuPanel.createSequentialGroup()
					.addGap(161)
					.addComponent(buttonsPanel, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, Short.MAX_VALUE)
					.addGap(124))
				.addComponent(menuImageLabel, GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, 537, Short.MAX_VALUE)
		);
		menuPanel.setLayout(gl_menuPanel);
		
		// playPanel config
		playPanel = new JPanel();
		playPanel.setBackground(new Color(0, 0, 255));
		mainPanel.add(playPanel, "playPanel");
		
		// optionsPanel config
		optionsPanel = new JPanel();
		optionsPanel.setBackground(new Color(255, 0, 0));
		mainPanel.add(optionsPanel, "optionsPanel");
		
		frame.setVisible(true);
		
		setActions();
	}
	
	private void setActions() {
		
		// playBtn action
		playBtn.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
			
			public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
				playBtn.setForeground(new Color(200, 210, 10));
			}
			
			public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
				playBtn.setForeground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
			}
			
			public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
				menuPanel.setVisible(false);
				playPanel.setVisible(true);
				optionsPanel.setVisible(false);
			}
		});
		
		// optionsBtn action
		optionsBtn.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {

			public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
				optionsBtn.setForeground(new Color(200, 210, 10));
			}
			
			public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
				optionsBtn.setForeground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
			}
			
			public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
				menuPanel.setVisible(false);
				playPanel.setVisible(false);
				optionsPanel.setVisible(true);
			}
		});
		
		// quitBtn action
		quitBtn.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {

			public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
				quitBtn.setForeground(new Color(200, 210, 10));
			}
			
			public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
				quitBtn.setForeground(new Color(255, 255, 255));
			}
			
			public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
				System.exit(0);
			}
		});
	}
	
	public void tick() {
		mainPanel.getSize(new Dimension(currWidth, currHeight));
		
		System.out.println(currWidth + ", " + currHeight);
	}
	
	public void render() {
		
	}
}

Swing is based on parent/child relationships.

So if you want the button displayed on the background the structure of your code needs to be:

- frame
    - background component
        - buttons panel

The easiest way to do this is to use a JLabel with your image as the background. Then you add the buttons panel to the label. The only issue is that by default a JLabel doesn't use a layout manager so you need to see the layout manager to achieve your desired effect.

I would suggest using a GridBagLayout, then the buttons will be centered on the panel. The basic code would be:

JPanel buttons = new JPanel();
buttons.add(...);

JLabel background = new JLabel(...);
background.setLayout( new GridBagLayout() );
background.add(buttons, new GridBagConstraints());

The label will be displayed at the size of the background image.

If you want the background image to scale as the frame size changes, then you have a couple of options:

1. Use the Stretch Icon. It will automatically scale the image to the space available.
2. Replace the JLabel with a JPanel and paint the image yourself. Check out the Background Panel which can be configured to automatically scale an image.

Edit:

> i tried reading the code and its really confusing.

Well, the intent was not for you to read the code. The intent was for you to use the code.

When you program you learn how to use classes and the methods of the class. When you use the ImageIcon class did you read the code first or just learn how to use its contructor?

Now I agree, the two classes don't have a published API but you really only need to understand the constructors and methods of the classes in order to use them.

If you read the Stretch Icon blog it states:

StretchIcon is a drop-in replacement for ImageIcon, which it extends, except that ImageIcon’s no-arg constructor isn’t supported.

So that means that if you would normally use:

JLabel background = new JLabel( new ImageIcon("background.jpg") );

you would use the following for the StretchIcon:

JLabel background = new JLabel( new StretchIcon("background.jpg") );

Similarly for the BackgroundPanel, if you read the blog it states that it is:

an extension of JPanel that provides some custom painting support for the drawing of images

It then goes on to say that the default is to paint the image "scaled" which is what you want. So all you need to figure out is which constuctor to use to create the panel.

For a regular panel you would use:

JPanel background = new JPanel();

For the BackgroundPanel the simplest constructor to use would be the first constructor of the class which simply takes an Image as a parameter:

JPanel background = new BackgroundPanel(image);

Now you have a panel and you simply add your 3 buttons to the panel.

I did not write the StretchIcon class so I don't know the details of the code, and I don't care about the details as long as the class does what I expect it to do.

I did write the BackgroundPanel class so if you has specific questions then I can probably help you. But I don't have time to guess which part of the code you find confusing.

Edit 2:

> I have 3 buttons and i want them to be at the cemter and stretch too so they stay at the center of the image

This is about learning how to use layout managers. I never use an IDE to generate my code. I want full control over the code. This allows your code to be cleaner an more easily maintained.

This allows you to choose the appropriate layout manager for the job and allows you to easily nest panels with different layout mangers. In this case you want to use the GridBagLayout which by default will center horizontally and vertically any component added to it.

By default the BackgroundPanel uses a BorderLayout. But you can easily change it to use the GridBagLayout. Then I would use a second panel with a GridLayout for the buttons.

So the code would be something like:

JPanel buttonPanel = new JPanel( new GridLayout(0, 1, 10, 0) );
buttonPanel.add(playBtn);
...

backgroundPanel.add(buttonPanel, new GridBagConstraints());

Now as the frame size is changed the buttons will automatically re-center.

Read the section from the Swing tutorial on Layout Managers for more information and examples.

Keep a link to the Swing tutorial handy. It contains information and example of most Swing basics.

You could use the method paintComponent(Graphics g) and drawImage() from JPanel to draw your Image.

import java.awt.*;
import java.io.*;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import javax.swing.*;
public class AutoScale extends JFrame{
	
private Image image;

	public AutoScale() {
		setTitle("AutoScale");
		setResizable(true);
		setSize(400,400);
                try {
                    image = ImageIO.read(new File("path to your file"));
		}catch(IOException e) {
		System.out.println("Image not found");
                 }

		JPanel panelImg = new JPanel() {

			public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
				super.paintComponent(g);

				g.drawImage(image, 30, 30, getWidth()/2, getHeight()/2, null);
				}
		};
		add(panelImg);
	}
	
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		
		AutoScale frame = new AutoScale();
		frame.setVisible(true);
		frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
	}
	
}

In this example, I create the Panel and paintComponent(). Inside that method, I invoke drawImage() with 6 parameters:

1. The Image <br>
2. x Coordinate <br>
3. y Coordinate <br>
4. The width of the Frame divided by 2(you can play with the size of your image by adding, substracting or dividing the result of
   getWidth()) <br>
5. The height of the Frame divided by 2(same as the width) <br>
6. The imageObserver, which generally is set to null. <br>

The paintComponent() method gets invoke automatically whenever the size of the Panel changes, so there's no need to use a WindowListener as I suggested earlier.

Note: I use a try-catch block because if it can't find the file, it will throw an Exception.

Hope this was helpful!