CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaswingjlabel
Catalina Island
Catalina Island

Reputation: 7136

How do I set a JLabel's background color?

In my JPanel, I set the background of a JLabel to a different color. I can see the word "Test" and it's blue, but the background doesn't change at all. How can I get it to show?

this.setBackground(Color.white);
JLabel label = new JLabel("Test");
label.setForeground(Color.blue);
label.setBackground(Color.lightGray);
this.add(label);

Upvotes: 172

Views: 242444

Answers (4)

user3376708
user3376708

Reputation:

You must set the setOpaque(true) to true other wise the background will not be painted to the form. I think from reading that if it is not set to true that it will paint some or not any of its pixels to the form. The background is transparent by default which seems odd to me at least but in the way of programming you have to set it to true as shown below.

      JLabel lb = new JLabel("Test");
      lb.setBackground(Color.red);
      lb.setOpaque(true); <--This line of code must be set to true or otherwise the

From the JavaDocs

setOpaque

public void setOpaque(boolean isOpaque)
  If true the component paints every pixel within its bounds. Otherwise, 
  the component may not paint some or all of its pixels, allowing the underlying 
  pixels to show through.
  The default value of this property is false for JComponent. However, 
  the default value for this property on most standard JComponent subclasses 
   (such as JButton and JTree) is look-and-feel dependent.

Parameters:
isOpaque - true if this component should be opaque
See Also:
isOpaque()

Upvotes: 17

Orji Friday Oko
Orji Friday Oko

Reputation: 81

For the Background, make sure you have imported java.awt.Color into your package.

In your main method, i.e. public static void main(String[] args), call the already imported method: 

JLabel name_of_your_label=new JLabel("the title of your label");
name_of_your_label.setBackground(Color.the_color_you_wish);
name_of_your_label.setOpaque(true);

NB: Setting opaque will affect its visibility. Remember the case sensitivity in Java.

Upvotes: 7

Yannick Loriot
Yannick Loriot

Reputation: 7136

The JLabel background is transparent by default. Set the opacity at true like that:

label.setOpaque(true);

Upvotes: 43

Peter Lang
Peter Lang

Reputation: 55594

Use

label.setOpaque(true);

Otherwise the background is not painted, since the default of opaque is false for JLabel.

From the JavaDocs:

If true the component paints every pixel within its bounds. Otherwise, the component may not paint some or all of its pixels, allowing the underlying pixels to show through.

For more information, read the Java Tutorial How to Use Labels.

Upvotes: 357

Related Questions