Removing image from inside border

[michaelr87005377]

I'm wondering if anyone could help with removing an image from a black border outline while keeping the border itself? I would like to reuse the exact black border (keeping its exact shape and colour) for other images to go inside the border. Is this possible in photoshop? 

The idea is to almost make the image space like a green screen where I can replace the image inside the black border. 

Thank you in advance for your help. The image is attached!

[Semaphoric]

One problem I can see is several areas of the bottom edge of the image have no separation from the clear base between the sprocket holes. Do you possibly have a lighter exposed frame?

[Conrad_C]

If you follow Semaphoric’s advice and find a photo with the same frame and no black in the image itself, you can then use Select > Color Range to sample the black edge color and create a selection from it, and convert the selection into a mask that you can reuse with any image. In the demo below, the purple layer is an example of how another image could be added behind the resulting masked black frame.

 

[Leslie Moak Murray]

You can do it, but it's easier to just make a new frame. To do what you're talking about, though, here is one way:

With the Rectangle Tool, make a rectangle to fit inside the frame:

Lower its opacity so you can see the frame beneath as a guide:

But what I found while doing this was that the black frame is not crisply or evenly defined:

So when my rectangle was done, the result was uneven:

So I made a new frame by first filling the layer with white:

Then I set the brush to 50 pixels (you can make it any width you like of course) and went Edit>Stroke

Then select the center with the Magic Wand Tool. then Edit>Cut, and now you have a clean frame into which ou can insert any image.

        

[michaelr87005377]

Thank you for your response. I would be looking to keep the inside shape i.e curved edges. Therefore would you know of a method that doesn't involve a rectangle to prevent cutting off the inside border shape? 

[Conrad_C]

Photoshop has rounded corner controls for rectangles, so you can achieve that, if you are willing to create a synthetic mask (not using the frame from the real scan). This is much easier to control and edit if you create it as a vector mask instead of a pixel mask. Here are the steps for the demo below:

1. A solid color fill layer (Layer > New Fill Layer  > Solid Color) was added in front of the image, set to black, and then selected.

2. Select Rectangle tool, and in the options bar, set it to Path.

3. Drag to create a rectangle.

4. In the Properties panel, set the corner radius to whatever you need. You can enter a value, but I use the visual shortcut of “scrubbing” the value (position pointer over the option’s icon, then drag left or right) to adjust it.

5. Choose Layer > Vector Mask > Current Path. The selected path becomes a vector mask for the solid black fill layer.

6. In the options bar for the selected path, set Path Operations to Subtract Front Shape. This uses the vector mask path interior as a hole in the solid layer, instead of showing the path interior as solid.

7. If needed, adjust vector mask path at any time, including size, position, or corner radius. (Path must be selected in Paths panel.)