I want to create a banner header using Xara, but I'm not sure how to do what I want in that program (as opposed to Photoshop, which I use so infrequently anymore--I prefer Xara over just about everything!).

So you know how you sometime see a banner/header where there is a person's photo on the left and then its right side blend in with the color of the rest of the banner? That's what I'm trying to do.

I have a headshot and then I have a rectangle shape in a blue color. The headshot will be placed on top at the very left side of the shape (header). I want the right edge of the photo to smoothly blend in with the color of the shape. I've played a little with the gradient tool, but I'm still too new at Xara and not fluent enough to figure out how to achieve the effect I'm looking for.

Can someone help? Thank you in advance!