first get the image from an image file.
use MediaTracker to ensure that the image is loaded fully before the panel is displayed.
next draw the image on the applet using the drawImage method of Graphics g inside paint()
ex.
Image img;
MediaTracker tracker;
img=Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage("some.gif/jpg");
tracker=new MediaTracker(this);
tracker.addImage(img,1); // here 1 is the ID of the image, give any number
try{
tracker.waitForAll(); //or tracker.waitForID(id no)
}
catch(InterruptedException ie){}
//...
public void paint(Graphics g){
g.drawImage(img,0,0,this); //if the image width and height are smaller than the panel size, u use the following drawImage method
g.drawImage(img,0,0,getWidth(),getHeight(),this);
}
thats all !!
hope it works
}