Willkommen, Raymond!

1) Try manually scaling "All Items" by entering the x-y values rather than dragging along the grid.

2) Wish I had a ready example for you. I'm better at showing than explaining, but I will try. The results are not guaranteed, but should point you in the right direction.

What I do is create the main character then save to text first. This will be your "main anchor." The scale and position of items are all based around the first Head that is placed in the default position.

So you have the original character saved as text. When you create the second character, make sure to include a "small anchor" Head in 100% scale in its default position as the very first Item. For this anchor, I typically use a Winner Head. One that is not going to be part of the final design. You will have multiple Head items. The "small anchor" and whatever head that you scale and move for the second character. Naturally, save the second character as text.

Reload HeroMachine (Refresh your browser). Load the main character. Then load the second with "Keep current Items" option. Because of the second character's "small anchor" head, the position and scaling should be as you had them in the original.

Some HMers create the characters separately then export them as GIFs with transparent backgrounds. They create the background separately and export it. Then they combine all three pieces in another image editor (for example, Photoshop). This is quicker and easier. However, if you decide to enter the design in a Character Contest, this technique might disqualify an entry. Limited use of picture cropping and zooming are often acceptable. Using another program to layer is strongly discouraged.

Hope this helps!