Context:

I'm trying to make an app with java swing, however when trying to add a background to the Login Page, the image does not show up. It is there and moves other JComponents when adding a layout to the root JPanel of the Page, it just, doesn't display the image. I've also tried JavaFX but it seems like I'm having the same problem over there.

I've also tried to find if anyone else has the same problem, however couldn't find anything useful. After spending a whole day trying to figure out a solution, I resorted to asking over here

Pc Info:

This is my PC info if it sums up to be a DE promblem

                  -`                     mmt007@mmt007desktop
                 .o+`                    --------------------
                `ooo/                    OS: Arch Linux x86_64
               `+oooo:                   Host: B75M-D3P
              `+oooooo:                  Kernel: Linux 6.17.6-arch1-1
              -+oooooo+:                 Uptime: 21 mins
            `/:-:++oooo+:                Packages: 1022 (pacman), 26 (flatpak)
           `/++++/+++++++:               Shell: bash 5.3.3
          `/++++++++++++++:              Display (WX942): 1440x900 in 19", 60 Hz [External]
         `/+++ooooooooooooo/`            WM: Hyprland 0.51.1 (Wayland)
        ./ooosssso++osssssso+`           Theme: Adwaita-dark [GTK2/3/4]
       .oossssso-````/ossssss+`          Icons: Adwaita [GTK2/3/4]
      -osssssso.      :ssssssso.         Font: Noto Sans (12pt) [Qt], Adwaita Sans (11pt) [GTK2/3/4]
     :osssssss/        osssso+++.        Cursor: default (24px)
    /ossssssss/        +ssssooo/-        Terminal: kitty 0.43.1
  `/ossssso+/:-        -:/+osssso+-      Terminal Font: NimbusMonoPS-Regular (11pt)
 `+sso+:-`                 `.-/+oso:     CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570 (4) @ 3.80 GHz
`++:.                           `-/+/    GPU: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller @ 1.15 GHz [Integrated]
.`                                 `/    Memory: 3.73 GiB / 7.62 GiB (49%)
                                         Swap: 0 B / 4.00 GiB (0%)
                                         Disk (/): 82.46 GiB / 214.08 GiB (39%) - ext4
                                         Locale: en_US.UTF-8

The Code:

And here is the code that is giving me problems:

Login Page class:

public class LoginPage extends Page {
    protected void init() {
        root.setLayout(new FlowLayout());

        JImageLabel background = new JImageLabel(new ImageIcon("assets/backgrounds/login_background.png"));
        background.setSize(400,400);

        background.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800,100));

        root.add(background);
        root.setBackground(Color.BLACK);
    }

}

Page class:

public abstract class Page {
    protected final JPanel root = new JPanel();

    public Page() { init(); }

    protected abstract void init();
}

JImageLabel class:

public class JImageLabel extends JLabel {
    private ImageIcon image;

    public JImageLabel(ImageIcon image)
    {super(image);}
}

Window class:

public class Window extends JFrame {
    private static final Window INSTANCE = new Window("Disbot");

    private static final Dimension DEFAULT_WINDOW_SIZE = new Dimension(1280,720);
    private static Page page = null;

    private Window(String title) throws HeadlessException
    {super(title);}

    public static void init(){
        INSTANCE.setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        INSTANCE.setSize(DEFAULT_WINDOW_SIZE);

        INSTANCE.setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void setPage(Page new_page){
        page = new_page;
        INSTANCE.setContentPane(page.root);
        INSTANCE.repaint();
    }
}

Main Class:

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
            Window.init();
            Window.setPage(new LoginPage());
        });
    }
}

Screenshots:

Updates

12/29/25

Well, it has been quite some time and so far nothing has worked, I've tried

• Changing the image type
• Changing the image location (and path)
• Setting .setOpaque to true
• Made sure that the JLabel is actually added to root
• Made sure that root is set as the root node of the JFrame

I'm starting to think it has to do with some bug when using Java Swing/JavaFX in Hyprland/Arch, however I can't confirm it

I feel so dumb writing this, but after hours of trying to fix this, I've realized that I used the wrong ffmpeg argument and instead of converting my webp image to PNG, it only changed the name.

Anyways let this be a lesson for future me, and thanks to all that tried to help me in this endeavor.

Happy new years!