Looks like the display have been corrupted somehow, this is not normal.

Does quitting and restarting the program help (it should automatically reload the last open map)? If so, you have a workaround, but you should probably still contact support.

Check with support. If you already own CC3+, they might provide you a copy of CC3 or find another way to provide you with a solution for getting the symbols.

Not as a finished feature built into the program, but you can do this using a Macro.

The Large Exports annual contain such a macro with explanations (the end result with this macro is to combine the individual tiles into one large image, but the start of the macro exports the map as smaller tiles.)

A very nice map. Looks great. I've always been very partial to SS2 myself.

I am not familiar with PlanetMaker, but it seem to just need a flat texture to import.

What I did as a quick test was to export my map as a 4096 wide jpg. (Using file -> save as and picking the jpg picture file file type)

Then I exported it again to a new file to get the heightmap, this time as a 16-bit greyscale png height file.

Then I switched to the normal map view and exported that as well, using the jpg picture file type.

Unfortunately, the way FT exports these, it keeps the unused area in the window as part of the image, so you need to crop them all in an image editor, make sure to crop them to the same size.

Then, in planet maker, set it up to use the tree textures you exported as surface, bump map and normal map respectively. (you won't have a specular map, so leave that blank, same with background unless you have something you wish to add there)

The reason I did all that is because that doesn't just bring the flat image into PM, but also the height data and surface normals for a better representation. You only strictly need the surface map if you don't have anything else (which would be the result from making it using wonderdraft as the video did), but it can look better with normals and height map, and since FT3 do have the ability to export these, I added them to take as much advantage of the FT3 - PM combo as possible.

As for your seas, I guess you exported that one from the Gaia view in FT3. It is designed to be a simple pretty view, but it isn't configurable at all. Try basing the export on the altitude view or the texture climate instead. I believe that will give you better results.

What happens here is that CC3+'s drawing tools are set to stop at the map border, and the map border itself is identified by entities on the MAP BORDER layer. What has happened here is that you have somehow gotten some extra entities on that layer, which basically redefines the map border.

Open up the layers dialog by clicking on the L: indicator in the status bar. Hide all layers except MAP BORDER. It should now be quite obvious which entities do not belong here. The map border itself should normally just be a thin outline around your map, there shouldn't be anything in the middle. Now either :CC2ERASE: the offending entities, or just use :CC2MCHANGE: to move them to another layer.

Not too fond of how the text glow visually looks more of a blob behind the text rather than an outline of the text. I suggest reducing the blur radius, or switching to the Outer Glow effect instead.

I don't think there any videos out there for creating starmaps with Cosmographer.

There's not any tool that will populate the map randomly with systems, you'll have to do that manually.

My most important tip for new users is to make sure to understand the program properly before jumping into a large-ish custom project. As you said, it can be a bit overwhelming at first, so if you haven't done so already, I highly recommend working through the basic tutorials in the user manual, even if they aren't about space and sci-fi.

That list shows the fill available in the current map. If you want fills from another style you need to import them into the map first, then they will be available to pick from that dialog.