Fade effect on Slick's carousel edge

Question

I'm using Ken Wheeler's plugin, Slick carousel, and as you can see in the image below, when a slide is sliding at the edge, it looks like it's being cut off. I'm thinking of a "fading edge", in which when a slide slides at the edge, it has a "softer" effect. Instead of this abrupt slide disappearance, a gradual (just like a fade effect) one. Is there any way to do it?

$('.carousel').slick({
  arrows: false,
  autoplay: true,
  autoplaySpeed: 1000,
  speed: 2000,
  slidesToShow: 5,
  slidesToScroll: 1,
  responsive: [{
      breakpoint: 1024,
      settings: {
        slidesToShow: 4
      }
    },
    {
      breakpoint: 600,
      settings: {
        slidesToShow: 3
      }
    },
    {
      breakpoint: 480,
      settings: {
        slidesToShow: 2
      }
    }
  ]
});

.container {
  padding: 40px;
  background-color: blue;
}

.slick-slide {
  margin: 0px 20px;
}

.slick-slide img {
  width: 100%;
}

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/slick-carousel/1.6.0/slick.min.css">
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/slick-carousel/1.6.0/slick.min.js"></script>
<script src="main.js"></script>
<div class='container'>
  <div class='carousel'>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/kkVWQR4.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/RRWm3lB.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/2f2pUHi.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/7TSiIkS.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/dXxnAnC.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/kkVWQR4.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/RRWm3lB.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/2f2pUHi.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/7TSiIkS.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
    <div>
      <a href="#"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/dXxnAnC.jpg" alt=""></a>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Answer 1

You can get pretty close with background: linear-gradient(); with :before + :after pseudo elements, but the link won't be clickable for any area gets covered. Just update the width and rgba() colors as needed.

UPDATE:

In order to make the links to be clickable even when they get covered, you can simply add pointer-events: none; to the pseudo element.

.carousel:before,
.carousel:after {
  content: "";
  position: absolute;
  z-index: 1;
  width: 100px;
  top: 0;
  height: 100%;
  pointer-events: none; /*makes the linkes behind clickable.*/
}
.carousel:before {
  left: 0;
  background: linear-gradient(to right, rgba(0, 0, 0, 1), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0));
}
.carousel:after {
  right: 0;
  background: linear-gradient(to left, rgba(0, 0, 0, 1), rgba(0, 0, 0, 0));
}

jsFiddle