#layer mask

step 1: after coloring/setting your gif, make a selection with a rectangular marquee tool (or any other selection tools you’re familiar with). select the area that you want to keep colored.

step 2: click on the select option in the top bar. and then on click on inverse. this selects the border portion of the gif. (the portion you want to keep black and white.)

this is what the selection looks like now:

step 3: create a black and white layer. you can either do this with a black and white adjustment layer or with a gradient map.

i chose gradient map. as you had already selected your border, when you create black and white layer it will automatically color only the border portion of your gif. 

this is what the gif looks like now:

step 4 (optional): now my layout has the lil triangle on top as well with border. to make that b&w, I selected the area of the triangle with a polygonal lasso tool. then I chose the brush tool to color the area in. remember to click on the layer mask on your gradient map/black and white layer:

to color in the black and white, choose white color. 

to erase the black and white, choose black.

i chose white as i wanted to color in the black and white.

this is the the final result:

Because with a layer mask you can easily fix your cut-out. Let’s say you miss some detail that only showed up when you were finishing your edit and Ctrl+Z won’t reach that far back. What would you do? Or maybe, by the end of the project, you thought that having a bit more of what you erased would look better? So, with the layer mask, you can fix things like this with ease. You just use the brush to make your subject more visible or not.

So how does it work?

Basically, you just have to select what you want to keep (or, if what you want to erase it’s easier to select, do so and then remember to invert the selection [Ctrl+Shift+I] before creating the layer mask). With everything selected, click on the third icon in the bottom right bar.

Now, things to know:

1. If you click Ctrl+left click on the layer mask it will select your subject  (this goes to any layer you have though).

2. You can easily deactivate the layer mask by clicking right on the layer mask. It will open a menu, click on Deactivate Layer Mask.  A red X will appear and it will show the whole picture again.

3. To go back, click right on the layer mask again and choose Activate Layer Mask.

4. To delete the layer mask (and keep the image/text/form), choose Delete.

5. Choosing Apply will apply the layer mask to your image, which means deleting the layer mask along with the non-visible part.

6. To invert the layer mask selection click Ctrl+I.

7. To edit your layer mask you should use a brush. If your subject is white, then using a black brush will make things invisible while a white brush will make things visible.

8. If you want to transfer the layer mask you can click on the layer mask and drag it to the other layers.

Finished edit using layer mask:

Another example but with text:

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If you have any questions, feel free to ask and if you have a suggestion on what tutorial you want to see here, go to submit!