This is a tricky question. You highlight the fact that you are using a JLabel to show the image, which is the standard way of doing things, but, JLabel is a complex little beast, with text, icon and text alignment and positioning.
If you don't need all that extra functionality, I would simply create yourself a custom component capable of painting a scaled image...
The next question is, how do you want to scale the image? Do you want to maintain the aspect ratio of the image? Do you want to "fit" or "fill" the image to the available space.
@David is right. You should, where possible, avoid Image#getScaledInstance as it's not the fastest, but, more importantly, generally, it doesn't provide the highest quality either.
Fit vs Fill
The following example is rather simple (and borrows heavy from my library of code, so it's probably also a little convoluted ;)). It could use from a background scaling thread, but I would base the decision on the potential size of original image.
public class ResizableImage {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new ResizableImage();
}
public ResizableImage() {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
try {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
} catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
} catch (InstantiationException ex) {
} catch (IllegalAccessException ex) {
} catch (UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) {
}
try {
BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(new File("/path/to/your/image"));
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
frame.add(new ScalablePane(image));
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
} catch (Exception exp) {
exp.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
}
public class ScalablePane extends JPanel {
private Image master;
private boolean toFit;
private Image scaled;
public ScalablePane(Image master) {
this(master, true);
}
public ScalablePane(Image master, boolean toFit) {
this.master = master;
setToFit(toFit);
}
@Override
public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
return master == null ? super.getPreferredSize() : new Dimension(master.getWidth(this), master.getHeight(this));
}
@Override
protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
Image toDraw = null;
if (scaled != null) {
toDraw = scaled;
} else if (master != null) {
toDraw = master;
}
if (toDraw != null) {
int x = (getWidth() - toDraw.getWidth(this)) / 2;
int y = (getHeight() - toDraw.getHeight(this)) / 2;
g.drawImage(toDraw, x, y, this);
}
}
@Override
public void invalidate() {
generateScaledInstance();
super.invalidate();
}
public boolean isToFit() {
return toFit;
}
public void setToFit(boolean value) {
if (value != toFit) {
toFit = value;
invalidate();
}
}
protected void generateScaledInstance() {
scaled = null;
if (isToFit()) {
scaled = getScaledInstanceToFit(master, getSize());
} else {
scaled = getScaledInstanceToFill(master, getSize());
}
}
protected BufferedImage toBufferedImage(Image master) {
Dimension masterSize = new Dimension(master.getWidth(this), master.getHeight(this));
BufferedImage image = createCompatibleImage(masterSize);
Graphics2D g2d = image.createGraphics();
g2d.drawImage(master, 0, 0, this);
g2d.dispose();
return image;
}
public Image getScaledInstanceToFit(Image master, Dimension size) {
Dimension masterSize = new Dimension(master.getWidth(this), master.getHeight(this));
return getScaledInstance(
toBufferedImage(master),
getScaleFactorToFit(masterSize, size),
RenderingHints.VALUE_INTERPOLATION_BILINEAR,
true);
}
public Image getScaledInstanceToFill(Image master, Dimension size) {
Dimension masterSize = new Dimension(master.getWidth(this), master.getHeight(this));
return getScaledInstance(
toBufferedImage(master),
getScaleFactorToFill(masterSize, size),
RenderingHints.VALUE_INTERPOLATION_BILINEAR,
true);
}
public Dimension getSizeToFit(Dimension original, Dimension toFit) {
double factor = getScaleFactorToFit(original, toFit);
Dimension size = new Dimension(original);
size.width *= factor;
size.height *= factor;
return size;
}
public Dimension getSizeToFill(Dimension original, Dimension toFit) {
double factor = getScaleFactorToFill(original, toFit);
Dimension size = new Dimension(original);
size.width *= factor;
size.height *= factor;
return size;
}
public double getScaleFactor(int iMasterSize, int iTargetSize) {
return (double) iTargetSize / (double) iMasterSize;
}
public double getScaleFactorToFit(Dimension original, Dimension toFit) {
double dScale = 1d;
if (original != null && toFit != null) {
double dScaleWidth = getScaleFactor(original.width, toFit.width);
double dScaleHeight = getScaleFactor(original.height, toFit.height);
dScale = Math.min(dScaleHeight, dScaleWidth);
}
return dScale;
}
public double getScaleFactorToFill(Dimension masterSize, Dimension targetSize) {
double dScaleWidth = getScaleFactor(masterSize.width, targetSize.width);
double dScaleHeight = getScaleFactor(masterSize.height, targetSize.height);
return Math.max(dScaleHeight, dScaleWidth);
}
public BufferedImage createCompatibleImage(Dimension size) {
return createCompatibleImage(size.width, size.height);
}
public BufferedImage createCompatibleImage(int width, int height) {
GraphicsConfiguration gc = getGraphicsConfiguration();
if (gc == null) {
gc = GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getDefaultScreenDevice().getDefaultConfiguration();
}
BufferedImage image = gc.createCompatibleImage(width, height, Transparency.TRANSLUCENT);
image.coerceData(true);
return image;
}
protected BufferedImage getScaledInstance(BufferedImage img, double dScaleFactor, Object hint, boolean bHighQuality) {
BufferedImage imgScale = img;
int iImageWidth = (int) Math.round(img.getWidth() * dScaleFactor);
int iImageHeight = (int) Math.round(img.getHeight() * dScaleFactor);
if (dScaleFactor <= 1.0d) {
imgScale = getScaledDownInstance(img, iImageWidth, iImageHeight, hint, bHighQuality);
} else {
imgScale = getScaledUpInstance(img, iImageWidth, iImageHeight, hint, bHighQuality);
}
return imgScale;
}
protected BufferedImage getScaledDownInstance(BufferedImage img,
int targetWidth,
int targetHeight,
Object hint,
boolean higherQuality) {
int type = (img.getTransparency() == Transparency.OPAQUE)
? BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB : BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB;
BufferedImage ret = (BufferedImage) img;
if (targetHeight > 0 || targetWidth > 0) {
int w, h;
if (higherQuality) {
// Use multi-step technique: start with original size, then
// scale down in multiple passes with drawImage()
// until the target size is reached
w = img.getWidth();
h = img.getHeight();
} else {
// Use one-step technique: scale directly from original
// size to target size with a single drawImage() call
w = targetWidth;
h = targetHeight;
}
do {
if (higherQuality && w > targetWidth) {
w /= 2;
if (w < targetWidth) {
w = targetWidth;
}
}
if (higherQuality && h > targetHeight) {
h /= 2;
if (h < targetHeight) {
h = targetHeight;
}
}
BufferedImage tmp = new BufferedImage(Math.max(w, 1), Math.max(h, 1), type);
Graphics2D g2 = tmp.createGraphics();
g2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_INTERPOLATION, hint);
g2.drawImage(ret, 0, 0, w, h, null);
g2.dispose();
ret = tmp;
} while (w != targetWidth || h != targetHeight);
} else {
ret = new BufferedImage(1, 1, type);
}
return ret;
}
protected BufferedImage getScaledUpInstance(BufferedImage img,
int targetWidth,
int targetHeight,
Object hint,
boolean higherQuality) {
int type = BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB;
BufferedImage ret = (BufferedImage) img;
int w, h;
if (higherQuality) {
// Use multi-step technique: start with original size, then
// scale down in multiple passes with drawImage()
// until the target size is reached
w = img.getWidth();
h = img.getHeight();
} else {
// Use one-step technique: scale directly from original
// size to target size with a single drawImage() call
w = targetWidth;
h = targetHeight;
}
do {
if (higherQuality && w < targetWidth) {
w *= 2;
if (w > targetWidth) {
w = targetWidth;
}
}
if (higherQuality && h < targetHeight) {
