Unfortunately, the Microsoft Print to PDF printer driver is pretty basic, so you can't control much when using that one.

But the general way to make thing the correct size for print is to rely on scaling, not margins. In the print dialog, switch to scale factor instead of fir to page, and make sure scaling is correctly set up. If your drawing is properly scaled from the outset, you should be able to calculate this rather easily, but if not, it may require some trial and error. You can also use the Distance command from the info menu to measure distances in your map, such as the width, to properly calculate the scale needed.

Obviously also set the tiling option to the desired value, adding overlap if desired.

This should ensure that your drawing end up the right size in the PDF, and you should then be able to print the document from the pdf using the the documents internal margins without the printer adding any more. You might need to print it with pdf software that allows more control over the printing process so that the scale of the document can be kept intact, like adobe reader to do that, I am not sure the built in pdf-viewer in windows handles that properly.

A symbol definition isn't really all that complicated. You have the symbol definition entity with the basic properties, and that entity contains a sublist with regular CC3+ entities that make up the symbol.

A raster symbol is basically just the same as a vector symbol, the difference is that it usually only contains a single picture entity that reference the png image. I don't have all the flags in my head, but there are some flags to set to indicate that the picture refers to a proper 4-resolution image (which is preferred over using a just a single image for the symbol)

And yea, a symbol catalog is just a regular drawing where the drawing list is filled by symbol definitions.

Personally, I would probably have done it as an XP to take advantage of the features provided, but also as a way to gain familiarity with the toolkit.

You are probably looking at quite a bit of work to assemble all the pieces though, and considering how easy it is to copy symbols between symbol catalogs and build your own from inside CC3+, i don't know if it is worth the effort.

The map seems to be triggering a redraw loop.

The first thing you need to do when this issue occurs is to make CC3+ break out of this loop. Often, the best solution is to just have it display a dialog. Start loading the map, you'll notice that the cursor turns in to the spinning circle, and the title bar of CC3+ will alternate between showing and not showing a "(not responding)" at the end there.

Now, just click on the sheets and effects button in the left toolbar. You'll not get an immediate response, because the program is working, and it can be worth clicking a few times just to make sure it is picked up (but you do not need to hammer your mouse button or anything). After a few more redraw loops, the dialog should show, and you should also be able to see your map fine in the background. Now, close the dialog, then run the FFIX command. That should upgrade the paths of all those CD3 houses in the drawing, and hopefully put an end to the loops too.

I don't have Smart App Control, but looking at the Update file, it is clearly signed and Windows reports that the digital signature is ok, so why this SAC feature claim otherwise I have no idea.

Considering you're running the update, I assume you've already installed the program. And the installer is signed the same way as the update, so blocking one and not the other makes little sense to me

Unfortunately, it isn't anything I can do to help, so I suggest you contact tech support through your registered user pages. Maybe they either know about the problem and knows of a way to help, or if it is a new problem, it is important that they get to know about it.

I am sure Ricko is right, but there is also a way to figure this out yourself. For most annuals, the symbols will be prefixed by the annual issue number, so you can learn a lot by just opening up the symbol manager from the symbols menu and have a look at the names. There are 12 issues each year, so as an example, CA26 would mean issue 2 (February) in volume 3 (2009). The annual website will then let you find the style name.