JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
  mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));

  JPanel paintPanel = new JPanel();
  JPanel textPanel = new JPanel();

  mainPanel.add(paintPanel);
  mainPanel.add(textPanel);
public class MyFrame extends javax.swing.JFrame{

    // these are the components we need.
    private final JSplitPane splitPane;  // split the window in top and bottom
    private final JPanel topPanel;       // container panel for the top
    private final JPanel bottomPanel;    // container panel for the bottom
    private final JScrollPane scrollPane; // makes the text scrollable
    private final JTextArea textArea;     // the text
    private final JPanel inputPanel;      // under the text a container for all the input elements
    private final JTextField textField;   // a textField for the text the user inputs
    private final JButton button;         // and a "send" button

    public MyFrame(){

        // first, lets create the containers:
        // the splitPane devides the window in two components (here: top and bottom)
        // users can then move the devider and decide how much of the top component
        // and how much of the bottom component they want to see.
        splitPane = new JSplitPane();

        topPanel = new JPanel();         // our top component
        bottomPanel = new JPanel();      // our bottom component

        // in our bottom panel we want the text area and the input components
        scrollPane = new JScrollPane();  // this scrollPane is used to make the text area scrollable
        textArea = new JTextArea();      // this text area will be put inside the scrollPane

        // the input components will be put in a separate panel
        inputPanel = new JPanel();
        textField = new JTextField();    // first the input field where the user can type his text
        button = new JButton("send");    // and a button at the right, to send the text

        // now lets define the default size of our window and its layout:
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(400, 400));     // let's open the window with a default size of 400x400 pixels
        // the contentPane is the container that holds all our components
        getContentPane().setLayout(new GridLayout());  // the default GridLayout is like a grid with 1 column and 1 row,
        // we only add one element to the window itself
        getContentPane().add(splitPane);               // due to the GridLayout, our splitPane will now fill the whole window

        // let's configure our splitPane:
        splitPane.setOrientation(JSplitPane.VERTICAL_SPLIT);  // we want it to split the window verticaly
        splitPane.setDividerLocation(200);                    // the initial position of the divider is 200 (our window is 400 pixels high)
        splitPane.setTopComponent(topPanel);                  // at the top we want our "topPanel"
        splitPane.setBottomComponent(bottomPanel);            // and at the bottom we want our "bottomPanel"

        // our topPanel doesn't need anymore for this example. Whatever you want it to contain, you can add it here
        bottomPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(bottomPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS)); // BoxLayout.Y_AXIS will arrange the content vertically

        bottomPanel.add(scrollPane);                // first we add the scrollPane to the bottomPanel, so it is at the top
        scrollPane.setViewportView(textArea);       // the scrollPane should make the textArea scrollable, so we define the viewport
        bottomPanel.add(inputPanel);                // then we add the inputPanel to the bottomPanel, so it under the scrollPane / textArea

        // let's set the maximum size of the inputPanel, so it doesn't get too big when the user resizes the window
        inputPanel.setMaximumSize(new Dimension(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 75));     // we set the max height to 75 and the max width to (almost) unlimited
        inputPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(inputPanel, BoxLayout.X_AXIS));   // X_Axis will arrange the content horizontally

        inputPanel.add(textField);        // left will be the textField
        inputPanel.add(button);           // and right the "send" button

        pack();   // calling pack() at the end, will ensure that every layout and size we just defined gets applied before the stuff becomes visible
    }

    public static void main(String args[]){
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable(){
            @Override
            public void run(){
                new MyFrame().setVisible(true);
            }
        });
    }
}

package com.stackoverflow.api;

import javax.swing.*;

public class Human15694375 {

  public static void layout(
    JPanel mainPanel,
    JPanel paintPanel,
    JPanel textPanel
  ) {
    mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
    mainPanel.add(paintPanel);
    mainPanel.add(textPanel);
  }
}

package com.stackoverflow.api;

import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JPanel;

/**
 * How to layout multiple panels on a jFrame? (java)
 *
 * @author APIzator
 * @see <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/15694375">https://stackoverflow.com/a/15694375</a>
 */
public class APIzator15694375 {

  public static void layoutPanel() throws Exception {
    JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
    mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
    JPanel paintPanel = new JPanel();
    JPanel textPanel = new JPanel();
    mainPanel.add(paintPanel);
    mainPanel.add(textPanel);
  }
}