RETAILBERG

Table of Contents

Introduction

Footprint Chart Pro is an Expert Advisor for MetaTrader 5 that replaces the standard chart with a full order-flow workspace. Instead of seeing only where price went, you see how much was traded at every price, and whether buyers or sellers did the trading.

From candle to footprint

A candlestick sums up a whole period with four prices. A footprint candle keeps the same period and the same high and low, but splits it into rows, one for each price level, and shows the volume traded on each row.

Key terms

Who Footprint Chart Pro is for

Why you need it

A candlestick shows where price went, not how it got there. A footprint also shows:

• Where the volume traded inside each candle, and which prices the market cared about.
• Who was in control: whether buyers or sellers were the more active side.
• Whether a move had real participation, or happened on very little activity.
• Where one side was being absorbed at a high or a low, even though price barely moved.

Benefits

• See inside every candle — volume, delta and the busiest price for each bar.
• Spot one-sided activity — imbalances, stacked imbalances and absorption are highlighted.
• Find the levels that matter — POC, value area, high-volume zones and session profiles.
• Check a move before you trust it — compare price with delta and divergence.
• Plan visually — the Ladder Trader and Trade Manager lay out entry, stop and target.
• One workspace — footprint, profiles, panels and tools on a single chart.
• Your way of reading — 18 footprint styles and colour themes to choose from.
• Practise safely — replay the market in the MT5 Strategy Tester.

The workspace at a glance

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What's included

Installation & Quick Start

Footprint Chart Pro runs as an Expert Advisor (EA) in MetaTrader 5. You install and attach it like any other EA, but it is a visual tool only and never trades.

Requirements

Installing the file

1. Open the data folderIn MetaTrader 5 choose FileOpen Data Folder
2. Copy the file into ExpertsOpen MQL5Experts and paste RETAILBERG FOOTPRINT CHART PRO.ex5 into it.
3. Refresh the NavigatorRight-click Expert Advisors in the Navigator and choose Refresh.
4. Check it is listedFootprint Chart Pro now appears under Expert Advisors, ready to attach.
5. Give the first load timeThe first time you attach it to a symbol, MetaTrader 5 downloads that symbol's tick history. Let it finish before you judge the chart: older candles fill in with their real volume over a few moments, and the Ladder Trader's Time & Sales, flow and depth panels build up as new data arrives.

Quick start

1. Open a chartOpen the symbol you trade. M1 to M15 is a good place to start.
2. Attach Footprint Chart ProDrag it from Navigator → Expert Advisors onto the chart, or double-click it.
3. Check the tick sizeOn the Inputs tab, Price buckets in points sets how much price each row covers. Appendix A lists suggested values.
4. Press OK and let the history loadRecent candles fill in with volume at each price as the tick history arrives. The first load can take a few moments.
5. Find your viewZoom In to read the numbers, Zoom Out for the bigger picture. Both are in the top header.
6. Pick a style and toolsUse the bottom strip. Turn on Button Names to see what each button does.

Updating and removing

Volume Data & Tick Accuracy

A footprint is only as good as the data behind it. In version 7.00 every row of every candle is built from the real tick history your broker sends to MetaTrader 5, using the standard rules of professional order-flow platforms, so the chart stays as close to the exchange as your feed allows.

How each trade is counted

Every trade is placed on the row of the price it traded at, with its real traded size. To decide whether it was a buy or a sell, Footprint Chart Pro uses the best information available, in this order:

One engine for every candle

• History on load — recent candles are rebuilt from tick history on every timeframe. Candles whose ticks are still downloading are retried until their data is complete.
• The forming candle — rebuilt from its ticks several times a second, so the live numbers are measured, not estimated.
• Closed candles — rebuilt once more from the full tick record the moment they close, then locked.
• Everything agrees — Time & Sales, the Ladder Trader, profiles and the HTF candle read the same ticks with the same rules, so their numbers match the footprint.

What changed from earlier versions

How close is it to exchange volume?

Footprint Chart Pro is built for CFD brokers and, where available, futures brokers that pass exchange trade data to MetaTrader 5. What the numbers mean depends on which you use:

Getting the most accurate data

• Use real exchange data — a broker offering exchange futures gives true trade prints.
• Let history finish — wait for the first load before judging older candles.
• Keep MT5 connected — a stable connection keeps the tick record complete.
• Match the row size — set Price buckets in points to suit the symbol (Appendix A).

The Interface — Header, Zoom, Strips & Grips

Everything in Footprint Chart Pro is controlled from three places: the top header, the bottom strip of buttons, and the floating panels you open from it. There are no menus or keyboard shortcuts to learn.

The top header

The header runs across the top of the workspace. On the left it shows the brand and the market; on the right sit the view buttons.

Header buttons and zoom

Nine buttons on the right of the header control the view.

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How zoom works

The bottom strip

The strip along the bottom holds two groups of buttons. A button with a bright outline is switched on. Turn on Button Names to see each name as you point at it.

Tool buttons

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Style buttons

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Floating panels and grips

Tools such as the Ladder Trader, Trade Manager and Session Panel open as floating panels over the chart. They all work the same way.

• Move — drag the panel by its title bar.
• Resize — drag the grip in the bottom-right corner.
• Close — click the X in the title bar, or press its strip button again.
• Scroll — use the mouse wheel over the Ladder Trader's book or a price ladder.
• Help — many panels have a ? button that explains what they show.

Light and dark themes

The header and strip follow the panel theme you choose in the inputs (Chapter 24). Here they are in the light theme.

Footprint Candle Styles

Footprint Chart Pro draws the same order-flow data in 18 styles, from clean numbers-only candles to full cells, per-candle profiles and heatmaps. Pick the one that reads best for you; you can switch at any moment with the style buttons on the right of the bottom strip (Chapter 04).

Colour themes

Every style can be shown on a dark or light panel, and in any of 16 bull / bear colour themes: Classic green / red, Blue / orange, Cyan / magenta, Lime / pink, Gold / purple, Teal / coral, Sky / crimson, Mint / rose, Orange / dark grey, Green / dark grey, Navy / slate, Navy / gold, White / dark grey, Emerald / white, Cherry / teal and Olive / sandy. Each section shows its style in several of them.

5A MinimalistClick any image to enlarge

The cleanest style. Each candle is drawn only as its numbers: sell volume on the left and buy volume on the right of every price row, with no candle body, boxes or shading. It keeps the chart calm and shows the most candles on screen.

Best for: traders who want to read the raw bid × ask numbers without anything else in the way.

• Bid × ask numbers on every price row.
• Imbalances stand out in the buyer or seller colour.
• POC, the busiest row, is outlined.
• Bar profile can be added from the header.

5A Minimalist in other themesClick any image to enlarge

The same style on light and dark panels, with and without the bar profile, and in a range of colour themes.

5B Background CellsClick any image to enlarge

Every price row becomes a filled cell with the bid × ask numbers inside. The cell colour shows which side traded more at that price, and its shade is based on volume: the more volume that side traded compared with the busiest price in the candle, the stronger the colour. You can read where the heavy trading was at a glance, before reading a single number.

Rows sit edge to edge with no gaps, and the candle body and wick are drawn as a frame around them.

Best for: traders who like a colour-led view of who controlled each price.

• Coloured cells in the buyer or seller colour, shaded by volume in three strengths.
• Bid × ask numbers inside every cell.
• POC row outlined; imbalances highlighted.
• Body frame and wick keep the candle shape.

5B Background Cells in other themesClick any image to enlarge

The same style on light and dark panels, with and without the bar profile, and in a range of colour themes.

5C Candle FrameClick any image to enlarge

The bid × ask numbers of every price row, with the candle body drawn as a frame around the rows between the open and the close. The frame takes the bull or bear colour and the wick runs through the middle, so you see the candle shape and the order flow inside it at the same time.

There is no fill behind the numbers, so the chart stays light and easy to scan.

Best for: traders who want classic candle shapes with the footprint numbers on top.

• Body frame in the bull or bear colour, with the wick.
• Bid × ask numbers on every price row.
• POC row outlined; imbalances coloured.
• Bar profile can be added from the header.

5C Candle Frame in other themesClick any image to enlarge

The same style on light and dark panels, in a range of colour themes and alongside other tools.

5D Volume Profile CandleClick any image to enlarge

Each candle becomes its own small volume profile. A solid bar on the left shows the candle body in the bull or bear colour, and beside it every price row is a cell holding the bid × ask numbers, shaded by how much volume traded there. The busiest row, the POC, stands out as a solid highlighted bar.

This is the default style when you first attach Footprint Chart Pro.

Best for: seeing where each candle's volume built up, and the numbers behind it, in one view.

• Candle body bar in the bull or bear colour.
• Bid × ask cells shaded by volume, forming a profile.
• POC row highlighted; imbalances coloured.
• Built-in profile, so no extra bar profile is needed.

5D Volume Profile Candle in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5E FramelessClick any image to enlarge

A slim style with no frame and no boxes. A thin candle body and wick sit on the left of each candle, in the bull or bear colour, and the bid × ask numbers run down beside it. There is no separator bar between the two sides, so the numbers read as clean columns.

It keeps the true candle shape visible while taking up very little space, so more candles fit on screen.

Best for: traders who want a light chart with the candle and its numbers side by side.

• Thin side candle with its wick, in the bull or bear colour.
• Bid × ask numbers in clean columns beside it.
• POC row outlined; imbalances coloured.
• Bar profile can be added from the header.

5E Frameless in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5F Middle CandleClick any image to enlarge

A full candle drawn in the middle of each footprint, with its body and both wicks, and the bid volume on its left and the ask volume on its right. The candle itself replaces the usual divider, so the price action sits right in the centre of the order flow.

It is the easiest style to read for anyone coming from normal candlestick charts.

Best for: traders who want a familiar candle with sellers and buyers on either side of it.

• Centre candle with body and wicks, in the bull or bear colour.
• Bid volume left, ask volume right of the candle.
• POC row outlined; imbalances coloured.
• Bar profile can be added from the header.

5F Middle Candle in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5G Delta CellsClick any image to enlarge

Instead of two numbers per row, each price shows one number: its delta, the buy volume minus the sell volume. Positive rows are shaded in the buyer colour, negative rows in the seller colour, and the stronger the delta, the stronger the shade. A thin candle body on the left keeps the candle's shape.

It answers one question at every price: who was more aggressive here, and by how much?

Best for: traders who read order flow through delta rather than raw bid × ask volume.

• One delta number per price row, with + or −.
• Cells shaded buyer or seller colour by strength.
• POC row outlined; thin side candle body.
• Bar profile can be added from the header.

5G Delta Cells in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5H Bid × Ask ProfileClick any image to enlarge

Each candle is split down the middle into two mirrored profiles. On every price row, a bar for the sell volume grows to the left and a bar for the buy volume grows to the right, each labelled with its number. The longer the bar, the more volume traded on that side, so the shape of each candle shows where the buying and selling were heaviest.

A thin candle line runs through the centre, and the POC row is outlined.

Best for: traders who want to see the buy / sell balance as shapes, not just numbers.

• Sell bars left, buy bars right, sized by volume.
• Numbers on every bar.
• POC row outlined; imbalances coloured.
• Thin centre candle line with its wick.

5H Bid × Ask Profile in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5I Bid × Ask CellsClick any image to enlarge

Every price row is drawn as two separate cells: the sell (bid) volume in a cell on the left and the buy (ask) volume in a cell on the right. Each cell is shaded by its own volume, so heavy selling and heavy buying light up independently, and the candle body is outlined in the bull or bear colour around them.

Bid numbers use the bear colour and ask numbers the bull colour, so each side is easy to follow down the candle.

Best for: traders who want a classic, boxed bid × ask footprint.

• Separate bid and ask cells on every row.
• Each cell shaded by its own volume.
• Body outline in the bull or bear colour; POC outlined.
• Imbalances keep their own colours.

5I Bid × Ask Cells in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5J VAH / VALClick any image to enlarge

Each candle shows its own value area: the rows where most of that candle's volume traded. Those rows are shaded in the colour of whichever side traded more inside them, and a bracket on the right marks the top (VAH) and bottom (VAL) of the value area, labelled on the chart.

A thin candle runs down the centre between the bid and ask numbers, and the POC row is outlined.

Best for: traders who think in value areas and want them on every single candle.

• Value area of each candle shaded buyer or seller colour.
• VAH / VAL bracket with labels on every candle.
• Centre candle between bid and ask numbers.
• POC row outlined; imbalances coloured.

5J VAH / VAL in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5K Delta Vol ProfileClick any image to enlarge

The most complete single-candle view. Each candle has three parts side by side: a delta profile on the left, the bid × ask numbers in the middle, and a volume profile on the right. Delta bars point the buyer or seller way and carry their value; volume bars show how much traded at each price.

You can read who won each price, the raw numbers, and where the volume built up, all in one candle.

Best for: detailed analysis on a few candles at a time, zoomed in.

• Delta profile on the left, buyer or seller colour.
• Bid × ask numbers in the centre.
• Volume profile on the right with totals.
• POC highlighted; imbalances coloured.

5K Delta Vol Profile in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5L Volume Footprint ProfileClick any image to enlarge

The bid × ask numbers inside a candle frame, with a volume profile attached to the right of every candle. Each profile bar shows the total volume traded at that price and carries its number, so you can see at once where each candle did most of its business.

Profile bars take the colour of the side that traded more at that price, and the POC bar is highlighted.

Best for: traders who want the footprint numbers and a per-candle volume profile together.

• Bid × ask numbers inside the body frame.
• Volume profile on the right of each candle, with totals.
• POC bar highlighted; imbalances coloured.
• Profile bars coloured by the side that traded more.

5L Volume Footprint Profile in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5M Delta Footprint ProfileClick any image to enlarge

The bid × ask numbers inside a candle frame, with a delta profile attached to the left of every candle. Each delta bar shows buy volume minus sell volume at that price: it takes the buyer colour where buyers traded more and the seller colour where sellers did, and carries its value.

It shows which prices inside the candle were won by buyers and which by sellers, next to the raw numbers.

Best for: traders who read the candle through delta at each price.

• Delta profile on the left of each candle, with values.
• Bid × ask numbers inside the body frame.
• POC row outlined; imbalances coloured.
• Bars coloured buyer or seller by the sign of the delta.

5M Delta Footprint Profile, light themeClick any image to enlarge

Choosing between the profile styles

Three styles add a profile to every candle. They share the same data and differ in what sits beside the numbers.

5N Wide Footprint HeatmapClick any image to enlarge

Wide, gapless candles where every price row is a heat cell. Rows are coloured by how much traded there, so the busiest prices glow brightest and the candle reads like a heatmap of the auction. The bid × ask numbers sit inside each row, the POC row is marked in a bright accent colour, and a thin candle line runs down the side.

The same style button switches between four modes (next page): heat by volume or by delta, with or without extra delta and volume columns.

Best for: spotting the heaviest prices at a glance, especially zoomed in.

• Heat cells coloured by volume or delta.
• Bid × ask numbers inside every row.
• High-activity rows marked in an accent colour.
• Four modes from one style button.

5N Four modes on one buttonClick any image to enlarge

Click the Wide style button once to select the style. Each further click steps to the next mode.

5N Wide Footprint Heatmap in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5O Side LadderClick any image to enlarge

A narrow, uncluttered style: a thin candle on the left and a single bold value per price beside it, coloured buyer or seller. With only one number per row, the ladder of values down each candle is quick to scan, and many candles fit across the screen.

The same style button switches between four modes (next page): delta or volume numbers, or delta or volume shown as profile bars.

Best for: traders who want one clear reading per price without the full bid × ask detail.

• Thin side candle in the bull or bear colour.
• One bold value per price row.
• POC row outlined.
• Four modes from one style button.

5O Four modes on one buttonClick any image to enlarge

Click the Side Ladder style button once to select the style. Each further click steps to the next mode.

5O Side Ladder in other themesClick any image to enlarge

5P Heikin AshiClick any image to enlarge

Plain Heikin Ashi candles, with no footprint cells, numbers or profiles. Each Heikin Ashi candle is built from an average of the price action, so runs of same-colour candles show a trend more smoothly and small pullbacks look less noisy than on normal candles.

Everything else on the chart still works: zones, sessions, profiles, bubbles, panels and the summary table.

Best for: reading the trend cleanly, then switching back to a footprint style to look inside the candles.

• Smoothed candles that make trends easier to follow.
• No footprint numbers, so the chart stays clean.
• All overlays, panels and tools stay available.
• Switch back to any footprint style with one click.

5P Light theme and normal candlesClick any image to enlarge

5Q RenkoClick any image to enlarge

Plain Renko bricks. A new brick is drawn only when price has moved a set distance, up in the bull colour or down in the bear colour, so the chart shows price movement only and ignores time. Quiet periods add no bricks; strong moves add many.

The brick size adapts to the market's recent volatility, so it suits any symbol without setting it by hand.

Best for: filtering out noise and seeing clean swings and trend direction.

• Price-based bricks, not time-based candles.
• Brick size adapts to volatility.
• No footprint numbers on the bricks.
• Switch back to any footprint style with one click.

5Q Renko with larger bricksClick any image to enlarge

Good to know

5R TPO Profile CandleClick any image to enlarge

A footprint and a market profile in every candle. The bid × ask numbers sit inside a hollow candle, and beside it each price row has a line of small TPO squares: the longer the line, the more time price spent at that level during the candle.

The squares are coloured by volume, from cool blue where little traded, through green and orange, to red where the most traded, so you see time and volume at each price together.

Best for: market-profile traders who also want the order flow inside each candle.

• Hollow candle holding the bid × ask numbers.
• TPO squares per row: length shows time spent.
• Heat colours from blue (little volume) to red (most).
• With the header bar profile on, the squares move to the left.

5R TPO Profile Candle, light themeClick any image to enlarge

Reading the TPO squares

Candle Colour & Candle StatsClick any image to enlarge

Two small tools that add information to the candles themselves: Candle Colour paints the zoomed-out candles by trend, and Candle Stats prints a short summary under every footprint candle.

Candle Colour CLR

When you zoom out to the plain candle view, each candle is coloured by where it closed against a reference line: on or above the line it takes the bull colour, below it the bear colour. Long runs of one colour make the trend obvious at a glance.

• MA mode uses a moving average; MA PERIOD sets its length (default 50).
• VWAP mode uses the session VWAP. Candles from before today's session keep their normal colour.
• Footprint cells keep their own colours when you zoom back in. Renko bricks are not coloured.

Candle Stats STATClick any image to enlarge

Candle Stats prints a short block of numbers under the low wick of each footprint candle, with no boxes. Each line is tagged so you always know what you are reading.

Tag	What it shows
del	Delta: buy volume minus sell volume.
vol	The candle's total volume.
imb	Buy and sell imbalance cells, e.g. B2 S1.
dvol	Change in volume from the previous candle.
ddel	Change in delta from the previous candle.

Delta & Volume Bars VOLClick any image to enlarge

A strip of bars just above the summary table, one bar under every candle. It shows at a glance which candles were busy and which side was in control, without reading a single number.

Two modes

• VOLUME — the bar's height is how much traded on that candle, in the candle's colour. Quiet candles are faint and busy ones are strong.
• DELTA — bars grow up from a centre line when buyers were stronger and down when sellers were stronger. The bigger the difference, the taller and stronger the bar.

Zoomed out

Every candle on screen gets a bar, so you see the volume of the whole chart. Candles older than the footprint history show an estimated delta, drawn fainter.

Zoomed out: delta and volumeClick any image to enlarge

Imbalances & Stacked Imbalances

An imbalance is a price where one side traded far more than the other. A stacked imbalance is several of them in a row inside one candle: a sign that one side pushed through those prices with real force.

How an imbalance is found

Footprint Chart Pro compares the cells diagonally, the standard footprint method. Buyers lift the offer one price higher than sellers hit the bid, so buy volume at a price is compared with sell volume one row below, and sell volume with buy volume one row above. When one side is several times bigger, that cell is an imbalance and is drawn in the buyer or seller imbalance colour.

Imbalance settings

Stacked imbalances STKClick any image to enlarge

The STK tool finds runs of neighbouring imbalance cells on the same side and marks each run with a box: your buy colour for STACKED BUYERS, your sell colour for STACKED SELLERS. Each box reaches to the right so you can see when price comes back to it.

• Open stacks stay solid, edged and labelled while price has not traded back through.
• Filled stacks stop at the candle that traded through and turn faint, or disappear when FILLED STACKS is off.
• MIN STACK sets how many imbalances in a row are needed; WIDTH how far the box reaches.
• LABELS switches the STACKED BUYERS / SELLERS text.

Stacks over time and alertsClick any image to enlarge

Absorption Bubbles & Power TradesClick any image to enlarge

Two bubble tools for heavy, one-sided activity: absorption bubbles show where one side was turned away at an important level; power trades show unusually large one-sided volume at a price.

Absorption bubbles HVN★ Key core feature

The HVN tool marks the price levels where the most trading took place. An absorption bubble appears on a candle where one side pushed into one of these levels, or into a Supply & Demand zone, and was turned away: that side is trapped.

• Above the high: buyers were trapped. Below the low: sellers were trapped.
• The number is how much volume was caught; a bigger bubble means a bigger trap.
• Bubbles appear once the candle has closed and stay put when you scroll or zoom.

Power trades PWR★ Key core featureClick any image to enlarge

Power trade bubbles mark prices inside a candle where an unusually heavy amount of one-sided volume traded. A ring in your bull colour means buyers were the aggressors at that price; your bear colour means sellers were.

• The number is the volume at that price; a bigger bubble is a bigger print.
• MINIMUM ORDER SIZE: only prints at least this size are shown. Type a value or use − and +.
• The Ladder Trader's mini chart has its own PWR switch that shows the same bubbles.

Raising the minimum★Click any image to enlarge

Volume ProfilesClick any image to enlarge

A volume profile turns volume sideways: for every price, a bar shows how much traded there. Long bars are prices the market spent time and volume at; short bars are prices it moved through quickly.

Side volume profile VP

A profile pinned to the chart edge. The POC also runs dashed across the chart, and each line shows its price.

• VISIBLE profiles every candle on screen and changes as you scroll and zoom.
• SESSION profiles only the current session.
• SIDE moves it to the left or right edge; HIDE turns it off.

Settings

Profile modesClick any image to enlarge

Session profile and zoomed-out viewClick any image to enlarge

Range Volume Profile RVP★ Key core feature

Drag a box over any part of the chart to profile just those candles and prices. Inside the box, the volume profile shows how much traded at each price and the delta profile beside it shows whether buyers or sellers were stronger.

• Gold POC, lighter VAH / VAL, prices on the right edge.
• Switch DRAW on, then click and drag a box. Several profiles can stay on the chart.
• The X removes one profile; CLEAR ALL removes them all.

Range profiles on the chart★Click any image to enlarge

TPO profile draw tool TPO★ Key core featureClick any image to enlarge

Drag a box over any part of the chart to build a market profile of just those candles. The bars on the left of each profile show whether buyers or sellers were stronger at each price.

• Gold POC, lighter VAH / VAL, each labelled with its price.
• The header shows the profile number, how many candles it covers and its total count.
• Switch DRAW on, then drag a box. X removes one; CLEAR ALL removes them all.
• Several profiles can stay on the chart; when the limit is reached the oldest is replaced.

VOL and DELTA graphsClick any image to enlarge

Radar, dials and tilesClick any image to enlarge

• Order-flow radar: liquidity, delta, trend, range and volume on one shape. A large, even shape means broad participation; a lopsided one shows which condition is leading.
• Intraday signal (SIGNAL): LONG or SHORT with a confidence %, built from several indicator, session and higher-timeframe readings on closed candles. Press SIGNAL again for the buy / sell pressure dial.
• Trend pulse (PULSE): one trend score from the session's price, delta and volume, shown as a % and a class such as BULLISH, LOW BULL or RANGING.
• Tiles: BID, ASK, SPREAD and CHANGE with small sparklines, updated once a second.

Settings

Trading Sessions & AMD PhasesClick any image to enlarge

Two time-and-structure tools. SESSIONS boxes the Asia, London and New York sessions so you can see each session's range at a glance. PO3 marks the Power-of-Three cycle: accumulation, manipulation and distribution.

Trading sessions SESSIONS

Each session is a see-through box over its candles, spanning the session's high and low and labelled with its name. A session that is still open has a dashed box that grows with the live candle.

• ASIA, LONDON and NEW YORK switch each session on or off.
• SESSION TEXT shows the sessions open right now in the lower strip.
• HIDE turns the boxes off; the SESSIONS button opens the panel.

Sessions on the chartClick any image to enlarge

Settings

Power of Three (AMD) PO3★ Key core featureClick any image to enlarge

PO3 draws the cycle as three coloured boxes. It can repeat several times inside one range and appears on every timeframe. Boxes update as each candle closes.

• A dashed box is still forming; a solid box is finished.
• PHASE TEXT shows the current phase and its direction in the lower strip.
• HIDE turns the boxes off; the PO3 button opens the panel.

Fair Value Gaps & Supply / Demand ZonesClick any image to enlarge

Price areas the market is likely to react to. Fair value gaps mark where price moved too fast to trade much, key levels mark yesterday's and this week's extremes, and supply and demand zones mark where price turned sharply, each with a card of details.

Fair value gaps FVG

A fair value gap is a price area the market moved through so fast that little trading took place there. Gaps are drawn as boxes and often act as magnets or turning points.

• Green boxes are bullish gaps; red boxes are bearish gaps.
• A gap is removed once price trades all the way through it.
• WIDTH sets how many candles each box reaches to the right.

FVGs on the chartClick any image to enlarge

FVG panel

Supply & demand zones S&DClick any image to enlarge

Supply zones (your bear colour) are areas price dropped away from; demand zones (your bull colour) are areas price rallied from. Each zone is a band across the chart with a card of details on its left.

• SHOW ZONES switches the bands on or off.
• ALL INFORMATION switches every card detail at once; change any single option for a mixed selection.
• The line under the title counts the zones found: detected, supply and demand.
• R restores the defaults; X closes the panel and the zones stay on the chart.

Reading the zone cardsClick any image to enlarge

Delta DivergenceClick any image to enlarge

A delta divergence is when price and delta disagree: price makes a new high but buying (delta) does not, or price makes a new low but selling does not. It can warn that a move is running out of strength. The tool finds them for you in two places: a pane under the chart and a floating panel.

Divergence pane DIV

• A pane under the chart with cumulative delta (the gold CVD line) and each candle's delta as green and red bars.
• Divergences are drawn on the pane and, as a paired line, on the price chart.
• LAST DIVERGENCE shows the side of the latest one and how many candles ago it formed.
• The pane lines up with the chart's candles as you scroll and zoom.

The pane up closeClick any image to enlarge

Delta Divergence panel DELTA

A floating cumulative-delta workbench: candles on top, the CVD line and per-candle delta below, all on one shared time line.

• M1 to D1 pick the panel's own timeframe, separate from the chart.
• NET DELTA shows buying minus selling over the window, with the buy (B) and sell (S) totals.
• A banner names a fresh divergence with its timeframe and price.
• Labels such as BEAR DIV, CVD LOWER HIGH and DELTA DIV mark where it shows on each part.
• The DELTA meter on the right shows the current buy / sell balance.

The panel on a higher timeframeClick any image to enlarge

• VP adds a volume-at-price profile on the panel's price scale.
• The shaded bands mark heavy-volume prices: R above price, S below, each with its volume.
• A divergence stays on until a new one on the same side appears, or it grows old or price trades through it.
• The forming candle updates about once a second; a new candle or timeframe rebuilds the panel.
• Drag the title bar to move it, the bottom-right grip to resize, R to reset and X to close.

Settings

Reading the signalsClick any image to enlarge

Orderflow Timeline & Chart AnalystClick any image to enlarge

Two ways to read the flow over time. The Order Flow Timeline names the phase of every candle in a strip under the chart. The Chart Analyst sums up the whole chart in one panel: the current signal, the nearest zones and the supporting readings.

Order Flow Timeline AMD

• A strip docked under the chart, one column per candle, lined up with the candles above.
• Each column is coloured by its phase; brighter cells mean stronger order flow.
• The number in each cell is that candle's delta as a % of its volume: who was more aggressive.
• The header names the live phase with a one-line note on what it means.

The timeline on the chartClick any image to enlarge

Chart Analyst ANLY

A one-glance read of the chart: the current signal and how it is doing, the nearest supply and demand zones, the plan levels on a small signal chart, and supporting readings from the higher timeframe, order flow, volume and key levels.

• The ANLY button opens the panel; changing timeframe starts a new analysis.
• Drag the title bar to move it and the corner to resize; R resets, X closes.
• Readings that agree with the signal add confidence; neutral or opposing ones are a reason to wait.
• The panel never sizes or places a trade.

The Analyst on the chartClick any image to enlarge

Reading the AnalystClick any image to enlarge

• SUPPLY / DEMAND at the top: the nearest zones with their price, distance, volume, state (such as REJECTING, AWAITING TEST or BREAKOUT POTENTIAL) and a pullback score PB. Higher is a better-quality return to that zone.
• SIGNAL: the latest signal and its result, with strength bars on the right.
• On the signal chart the SELL and DEMAND zones frame the candles, and the dotted lines mark the entry, stop and target from the signal candle.
• ANALYSIS: symbol, trend, higher timeframe, depth, time & sales, order flow and pullback trend on the left; volume, imbalances, key levels, zone pullback, setup, summary and signal on the right.

HTF Candle HTF★ Key core featureClick any image to enlarge

See the higher-timeframe footprint without leaving your chart. The HTF Candle panel shows the forming candle of the timeframe you pick, and the one before it, as full footprint candles beside your working chart.

Reading the panel★Click any image to enlarge

• Timeframe: the buttons along the bottom (1, 5, 15, 30, 1H, 4H, D) switch the candles.
• Price line: time left, open, high, low and close, volume and delta. The price scale and current price sit on the right.
• VP shows or hides the volume profile beside each candle.
• ROWS: on a tall candle the price rows join so it fits. AUTO picks for you; − and + make rows finer or coarser.
• Summary: the rows switched on in the SUMMARY panel, four to a line.
• The three buttons left of STYLE show candle stats, power trades and absorption bubbles, with the same settings as STAT, PWR and HVN.
• Drag the title to move, the grip to resize; R resets and X closes.

Channels and bandsClick any image to enlarge

Fibonacci FIBClick any image to enlarge

Switch DRAW on, then drag from the start of a move to its end. 0% is where you press and 100% is where you let go; each level is a line across the candles inside the drag. A rally and a sell-off draw opposite ways.

• Each level row has ON / OFF and a colour square. 127.2 and 161.8 sit past the move and start off.
• FILL shades the bands; the % sets how solid the wash is.
• Up to eight fibs stay on the chart; another replaces the oldest. Each has an X; CLEAR ALL removes them all.

Price Line Alert ALRTClick any image to enlarge

• Switch PRICE LINE on and a line appears at the current price. Drag it anywhere along the line to your level.
• Switch on ALERT ↑ ABOVE for a cross up or ALERT ↓ BELOW for a cross down; one direction is armed at a time.
• The line turns your above or below colour when armed, and its label reads UP:ARMED or DN:ARMED.
• Each alert fires once with a pop-up and a sound, then shows FIRED. Drag the line to arm it again; SNAP brings it back to the current price.

The mini price chart★Click any image to enlarge

• The top strip picks the timeframe (M1 to D1) and switches the moving averages (MA1–MA3), VWAP and its 2S / 3S bands.
• The lower strip switches extra layers: S&D zones, RZ reversal zones, SIG the trend indicator, DIV RSI / MACD divergences, and VP.
• Under the chart, MACD shows momentum and RSI shows overbought (above 70) and oversold (below 30), with the live reading in colour.
• The mini chart has its own PWR switch for power trade bubbles (Chapter 9) and shares the supertrend settings (Chapter 16).

Volume profile and divergencesClick any image to enlarge

The stats footerClick any image to enlarge

Trail Coach FLOWClick any image to enlarge

A trailing line that follows price and adapts to how fast the market is moving, leaning toward the prices where the most volume traded. Use it to manage a trade that is already running.

• Bull colour while an uptrend holds, bear colour while a downtrend holds, amber when the trend is fading or sideways.
• FLIP MARKERS: a ringed dot wherever the colour changed.
• STYLE switches between the line and a shaded BAND you can use as a trailing-stop area.
• BASE PERIOD: lower reacts faster; higher is smoother and gives the trade more room.

Summary Table & News PanelClick any image to enlarge

The Summary Table under the chart gives every candle a column of numbers, lined up with the candles above. The News Panel lists the day's economic releases from your broker's calendar.

Summary Table SUM

News Panel FUNDClick any image to enlarge

MetaTrader's built-in Economic Calendar from your broker feed: the day's releases, live and upcoming. No internet, API key or login needed.

• Each event is colour-coded by impact: HIGH, MED or LOW.
• Releases for your chart's own currencies get a coloured accent bar, so you spot what moves your symbol.
• A NOW line splits released events (dimmed) from those still ahead.
• Each row shows Actual, Forecast and Previous. The gap between actual and forecast is what usually moves the market.
• Data refreshes about once a minute. Drag the title to move, the grip to resize; R resets, X closes.

Key Settings — Tick Size, Display & Themes

Most tools are switched from their buttons and panels while you trade. A few settings shape the whole chart and live in the EA's Inputs tab. These are the ones worth checking first.

Price rows: the tick size of the footprint

Price buckets in points sets how tall each footprint row is. Every trade is added to the row for its price, so this decides how much detail each candle shows. The size is counted in the symbol's points (its smallest price step).

General

Display and themes

Layout

Colours

Candles, volume cells, imbalances (per style), delta, zones, sessions and most tools have their own colour settings in their groups. Many tools follow your bull and bear colours unless you change them. The full list of inputs is in Appendix B.

Alerts & Order-Flow Alerts

Let the chart call you. Order-Flow Alerts watch for power trades, absorption bubbles and stacked imbalances and tell you when a candle closes with one. Further alerts cover candle volume and delta, Supertrend signals, RSI divergence on each timeframe, both divergence tools, the SYS.CORE signal, the price line and the Trade Manager. Every alert setting sits in one === Alerts === group.

Order-Flow Alerts

• Each alert is judged once, when the candle closes, so it never fires on a print that later disappears.
• Each uses its tool's own threshold, so it only alerts on what the chart actually shows.
• The tool must be switched on on the chart for its alert to work.
• One alert per candle per type lists everything found. Only candles that close while the EA is running alert; history never does.

Alert settings

Every alert setting is in one group of the EA's Inputs tab, === Alerts ===. Each alert type has the same three settings:

The Price Line Alert and the Trade Manager share one setting, Price line + Trade Manager: sound file.

Using your own sounds

1. Pick a short .wav file. Other formats such as .mp3 will not play.
2. Copy it into the Sounds folder of your MetaTrader 5 installation (for example C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 5\Sounds). Right-click the MetaTrader shortcut and choose Open file location if you are not sure where it is installed.
3. Type the file name, for example bigbuyer.wav, into the sound setting for that alert.
4. Use a different sound for each alert type so you can tell them apart without looking.

Where alerts appear

• The pop-up Alert window lists every message with its time; it stays open until you close it.
• The Experts tab of the Toolbox keeps a log of every alert.
• Alerts only run while MetaTrader is open and the EA is on the chart.

Every alert at a glance

What the message says

Each message starts with the symbol, timeframe, alert type and candle time, then lists what was found (the prices and sizes below are examples):

Messages from the other alerts

Prices and values above are examples only.

Good to know

Strategy Tester

Replay past markets with the full footprint chart. Because Footprint Chart Pro is an Expert Advisor that never places orders, the Strategy Tester becomes a practice room: watch the order flow build candle by candle, try every tool and learn to read the chart without risking anything.

Running a visual test

1. Open the Strategy Tester in MetaTrader 5 (View › Strategy Tester or Ctrl+R).
2. Choose Expert Advisor and select RETAILBERG FOOTPRINT CHART.
3. Pick the symbol and timeframe. For your first run, set the dates to just the latest 3 days of history; once that works, test longer periods.
4. Set Modelling to Every tick based on real ticks (see the table below).
5. Tick Visual mode (the visualisation option) and press Start. A chart window opens and the footprint builds as the test plays. Use the speed slider to go faster or slower.

Choosing the modelling

The Quick Start panel

Every visual test opens with a STRATEGY TESTER · QUICK START panel: how to get around in the tester, the highlights to try first (favourites are marked) and a list of everything else on board. Close it with its X, or it closes by itself two minutes after the test starts.

Getting around in the tester

• Every button works: switch tools on and off from the strips; point at a button to see its name.
• Move and resize panels by their title bars and corner grips.
• Draw while you test: drawing tools, Fibonacci, range volume profiles and TPO boxes all work.
• Zoom on the price ladder: in the tester the mouse wheel does not zoom. Click and hold the left mouse button on the price scale and drag up or down to zoom in and out (Chapter 4).
• Switch styles and use the header buttons to zoom, scroll and reset; everything updates as the test plays.

What is different in the tester

Troubleshooting

Most questions have a quick answer. Find what you see in the left column and try the fix on the right. The Experts tab of MetaTrader's Toolbox (Ctrl+T) is the first place to look for any message from the EA.

Installing and loading

The chart

The chart, continued

Panels and display

Data, news and alerts

Strategy Tester

Frequently Asked Questions

The basics

Data, colours and help

Glossary

Plain-English meanings of the terms used in this manual, with the chapter where each is explained.

Recommended Markets & Tick Sizes

Starting values for Price buckets in points (Chapter 24), the row size of the footprint. Set the value for each symbol in the EA's Inputs tab, then fine-tune until each candle shows a readable number of rows.

How the row size is worked out

Row size = price buckets in points × the symbol's point, its smallest price step. The same value gives different rows on brokers that quote a symbol with more or fewer decimals. To check, right-click the symbol in Market Watch, choose Specification and look at Digits: 2 digits means a point of 0.01, 3 digits 0.001, 5 digits 0.00001.

Best practice

• Use liquid instruments: forex majors, indices and gold give the clearest order flow.
• M1 to M15 show the most order-flow detail; zoom out or use the HTF Candle for the bigger picture.
• Rows too thin and crowded? Raise the value. Too few rows per candle? Lower it.
• On higher timeframes, candles cover more price, so a larger value usually reads better.

Settings Reference

Every setting in the EA's Inputs tab, in the same groups and order as MetaTrader shows them, with its default value. Most tools can also be changed from their buttons and panels while you trade; these inputs set the starting values.