Need help with graphics

Hello, I am trying to do a simple thing with writing and graphics. I have been following the corel  graphics tutorial with the sting ray on it. As per the video, I want to have an image with a slightly transparent rectangle and then the writing to be dark on the rectangle. When I do the writing "in black" and then make the blue rectangle transparent over it with the opacity button on the top right, the writing is also going opaque.  What am I doing wrong. I have tried to get this right about 20 times. Is there something that I need to tick/untick? Please see attachment.   Help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you