[Techtalk] Fading with gimp

[Dan]

I have very little knowledge of gimp, but I'd like to use it to create
an image with a radial fading effect (with center crisp and the edges
fading gradually to nothing - or rather, fading to white).

I've figured out to use a layer mask and a gradient (shape radial),
fading from a white foreground to a black background. But the radial
gradiant isn't a gradient: it always gives me a hard crop rather than a
smooth fade-out effect.

What am I doing wrong?

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