i need guidelines i can follow in matching an object \to the background...and even when colors are ok....the whole pic is not!!!what am I missing

If you're talking about the earring....maybe it just needed a little more saturation to match the top part a bit better. It's just a little 'washed out'.

things to consider when intergrating a picture:

colour / b/w (even if the destination picture is in grayscale like yours, you can make it either colour or b/w depending on if you want to match it or to make it stand out respectively)

saturation levels: big buck right about this- a way to stop it looking so pale and washed out is to increase the saturation, which was i think about the only thing wrong with yours.

colour: the colours fine in yours but you should always check it just incase

lighting: in my experience 9/10 times the lighting is the only thing wrong when intergrating a picture. when it comes to lighting in pictures there are two types:

when there is an obvious light source which isn't obstructed (like strong sunlight outdoors)
these types have:
hard shadows/highlights
soft shadows/highlights

when there isn't an obvious light source, and more just general lighting (common in indoor scenes) like yours is
these types have
soft shadows/highlights
sometimes no definable shadows/highlights

just think about these things you'll make a lot more realistic pictures.

try adding some atmosphere aswell i do that by adding a soft black around the outside not too much, just adjust it untill it looks right.

this kind of thing

perhaps this is a little much

i hope this helps you

pay attension that took a long time to write !

Good points from the BuckMan and ArmagettinItMan!

Just a hint of a shadow I think would help this too... There is usually always SOME displacement of light when there is an object over another object. A plain DROP SHADOW won't do... sometimes you have to paint in the shadow yourself and then control the OPACITY / Transperancy of it VERY CAREFULLY.

Notice that the top part of the earring and the part you added are slightly different shades of yellow... a simple shift in the HUE will help that. Again, it is subtle.

Also, as Ledirlo says below - take a look at real gold jewellery pictures: perhaps the Saturation needs to come DOWN a bit, in the YELLOW channel/spectrum?



Cropping the image will also generally help. Putting the earring slightly off center makes for a somewhat more interesting composition. This also makes the viewer look at the WHOLE image, instead of just ZOOMING INTO the chopped object.

Also, keep an eye on the "grain" or NOISE in the different pieces in your post. In other words there shouldn't be any difference in the lumpyness of your bits. Sometimes you have to ADD NOISE to something so it sits on the other parts without looking like it was chopped from another picture.

Oh, and adding the "peace" sign is not required - but it might make it a bit GROOVIER!

I'd advise looking at a photo of a gold ring to see what it looks like and replicate

try adding some shadows to the background

AND MOST OF ALL...........NEVER...NEVER...NEVER....DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!