Hi there,
Content is required in order for the background image to show up, as it needs to be a background to something.
The Page Header add-on does require you to add your own content/HTML into the content area in order to have buttons appear.
For example:
<h1>My title</h1>
<div class="my-buttons">
<a class="button" href="https://generatepress.com">Link to GP</a>
</div>
You can make all kinds of colored buttons using CSS, for example: https://generatepress.com/forums/topic/custom-colors-for-buttons/#post-143266
Not too sure what you mean about the page title. When you check to disable the page title, it isn’t being removed from the page?
Let me know 🙂