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Well, you've got a few problems here. I recommend you read through this: Lesson: Performing Custom Painting (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing)

Also, does your Jar have access to...

That's because you're adding a JPanel, not a JLabel. Unless you mean something else?

And you probably don't want to load the image each time your JFrame is repainted. Load it once and store it in...

How are you doing the background image? And what layouts have you tried? Check out your options here: A Visual Guide to Layout Managers (The Java™ Tutorials > Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing > Laying...