Simple question: setting up a project

Hi, I'm new to Animate. I've done the hands on bouncing ball tutorial, however when I set up a new project I can't do same things I can do in the tutorial (I'm assuming the settings are different).

I cannot change the color of the background (when I do it changes color in the timeline but not the workspace.

If I draw in the work space, I see the outlines of my lines (as if my work is hidden under a layer), but can't see the actuall linework itself. 

Same thing if I try to import a bitmap (the square shape of the bitmap is visible, but the image on it is not).

All of the above I have no problem implementing in the bouncing ball hands on tutorial built into the latest versio of Animate.

My question is this: how do I set up the project so it has the same settings as the tutorial project.

Thanks in advance.