Footprint display modes
Three ways to render the same footprint data — Bid×Ask shows the buyer-vs-seller split at each price, Delta shows net flow per price, Volume shows total size per price (Mono or Delta-tinted). Plus the side profile panel and the optional per-bar delta strip below the chart.
The same per-cell numbers can be drawn in three different ways. The Chart Terminal exposes them as separate chart-type options so a single click switches the entire chart between them without losing your settings, drawings, or indicators. Open the chart-type menu in the top toolbar and pick the Footprint mode you want. You can also enable a side profile panel and a per-bar delta strip below the chart in addition to (not instead of) any of the three modes.
Bid×Ask (split footprint)
Each price row has a centred spine (a tiny vertical line). From that spine:
- Sells that hit the bid (aggressive sellers) extend to the left.
- Buys that lifted the offer (aggressive buyers) extend to the right.
ask side │ bid side
◄─────────────────────┼─────────────────────►
spine
Bar widths follow the volume on each side; cell text shows the exact size when there's room.
When to use it. When you want the full story at each price — the classic footprint read. Bid×Ask is what most professional flow tutorials teach; it's the densest information per cell.
Zoom note. When candles get very narrow, the chart simplifies the drawing automatically so the chart stays readable. Zoom in (or pick a wider timeframe) to bring back full split detail.
Delta
Each row is one horizontal bar:
- Width ≈ how strong the imbalance was (net buy minus sell).
- Colour ≈ positive vs negative delta.
- Numbers in the middle of the cell show the delta value when there's enough room.
When to use it. When you care about who was stronger at each level, not the exact buy-vs-sell split. Delta mode reads fastest of the three because every cell is a single bar pointing one way.
Volume
Each row shows how much traded in total at that price (both sides combined). Width follows total size at the level — wider bar means more volume.
When to use it. When you want to spot where the market spent the most size inside the candle, without being distracted by the buy-vs-sell split. Volume mode is the fastest read for POC visualisation — the widest bar is the POC.
Volume colouring (Mono vs Delta-tinted)
Volume mode has a sub-option that controls how colour works. Pick it in Footprint Settings → General → Volume Coloring.
| Setting | What you see |
|---|---|
| Mono (default) | Every bar uses the same neutral hue; opacity scales with volume. High-volume rows are solid, low-volume rows are translucent. Colour carries no directional signal — width alone tells the story. |
| Delta-tinted | Bar width still follows total volume, but the hue shifts toward the bull or bear colour based on whether net flow at that price was positive or negative. |
Mono gives Volume mode a distinct visual identity so when you glance at the chart you immediately know which of the three modes is active — Bid×Ask shows two-sided split bars, Delta shows a centred directional bar, Mono Volume shows neutral-hued bars where size is the only signal.
Delta-tinted keeps directional context inside the volume bars. Use it if you find yourself switching from Volume to Delta just to check direction.
Quick comparison
| Mode | You see | Colour encodes | Fastest read for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bid×Ask | Buy vs sell separately at each price | Side (green = buy, red = sell) + intensity | Absorption, exhaustion, who-is-in-control |
| Delta | Net flow per price | Sign of delta (positive vs negative) | Aggression direction at each level |
| Volume — Mono | Total size per price | Intensity only (neutral hue) | POC and high-volume nodes |
| Volume — Delta-tinted | Total size per price | Intensity + delta direction | POC with directional context in one glance |
Most flow traders settle into Bid×Ask for analysis and Delta or Volume for fast scanning. Switching modes is cheap once you know which question each mode answers.
Side profile panel
A vertical panel can be docked to the right of the chart that shows the same footprint data with its own scaling, anchored to the active or latest bar. This is helpful when you scroll history but want a fixed reading of the current auction in the corner of your eye.
Toggle the profile from Footprint Settings → Display → Show profile. When enabled, hovering price levels in the profile reveals tooltips with the underlying numbers.
The profile is linked to footprint data — if the underlying trade feed is incomplete, both the chart and the profile reflect that gap.
Per-bar delta strip
A thin pane below the main chart can show per-bar delta as histogram bars (and optionally a running cumulative delta line). Useful for reading the trend of aggression across many bars without having to scan every footprint cell.
Toggle the strip from Footprint Settings → Display → Show delta strip. The strip respects your selected timeframe — switching from 1m to 15m re-aggregates the bars on the fly.
Signal markers
Small labels (ABS, IMB, DIV, EXH, UA, HVN) can appear on top of any display mode when Signal markers are enabled in Footprint Settings. They are explained on the signals page; pick which kinds you want to show with the per-kind toggles in the Display tab.
What's next
- Footprint Settings — every dialog option in detail.
- Reading & analysis — workflow for reading a single bar in context.
- Signal markers — what each signal tag means and how it's detected.
- Stacked Imbalances — the cell-tint and bracket overlay across multiple consecutive rows.
- Tips & best practices — tick size, zoom, common mistakes.
- Chart types — how to switch between candles, footprint, and other chart types.