Settings in Material Editor to Apply Bitmaps to Objects.Help

if anyone can please help, i need to set up my Max to be able to apply jpegs to a plane as a reference to model.

it wont let me apply a bitmapped material to an object. and i cant find the preference that will let me.

heres my situation


heres my options as theyre set up now.


im thinking i need to change one of the preferences in the "Customize\Preferences..." menu.
im a beginner, so your help is much appeciated.
thank you for your time.

drag and drop the material onto the plane.