We continue with our Masterclass series, which we created to teach people how to get started with charting, research, and analysis. In this lesson, you’ll learn all about the Drawing Panel located on the left side of your chart. Let’s get started!
Drawing tools 🎨
There are eight categories in the drawing tool section: Cursors, Trend line tools, Fibonacci tools, Patterns, Forecasting and measurement tools, Geometric shapes, Annotation tools, and Icons. In addition, just below these categories, there are handy features that augment and optimize your research in specific situations, such as zooming in/out, measuring, and a magnet tool for selecting specific price points. Let’s analyze each of these in detail:
- Cursors: Located at the very top corner of the drawing tool section, Cursors gives you the capability to change your mouse as you move around the chart. For example, we have other variations such as the dot cursor or the simplest of all, the arrow cursor. Finally, we have an eraser tool to remove objects from the chart by clicking on them.
- Trend lines: Trend lines can be used to identify and visualize the direction of a price trend, and are sometimes used for drawing support or resistance lines as well. In this section, you can also find trend channels and pitchforks.
- Gann and Fibonacci tools: These advanced tools are often used by technical analysts and quants to locate retracements, pullbacks, measured moves, and advanced price sequences. The Fibonacci tools include retracement, extension, fans, arcs, and more. The Gann tools include box, square, and fan.
- Patterns: In this section, you’ll find popular drawing tools for mapping our complex patterns that require several different points to be drawn such as Elliott waves, head and shoulders, and impulses.
- Forecasting and measurement tools: These invaluable tools are used to make projections either long or short, study specific stats such as time or price ranges, and also give you the capability to analyze volume with VWAP and volume profiles.
- Geometric shapes: These tools are where you can find the brush tool to freely draw on your chart, but it also goes deeper than that, as there are also important shapes whereby a trader can highlight important areas on the chart with a rectangle or arrow such as accumulation or historical rebound zones.
- Annotation tools: These can be used to write notes, reminders, prices, and journal entries. These are key tools for traders who want to track their progress over time and always have specific notes attached to the chart. It also includes the ability to insert X links and images from your computer.
- Icons: Need a little more color or character on your chart? This section gives you hundreds of emojis, icons, and stickers to add to your chart. Highlight an area, add more art to your chart or spice up your creativity.
Tip: Keyboard shortcuts 🔠
Did you know that you can use keyboard shortcuts for the most popular drawing tools? To find out the command, you need to open the drop-down menu of one of the 8 drawing tool categories and you will see the command on the right side of some tools. For example:
Alt + T = Trendline
Alt + F = Fib retracement
Alt + H = Horizontal line
Alt + V = Vertical line
Alt + I = Invert chart
Alt + W = Add current symbol to watchlist
If you're a Mac user, use ⌥ instead of Alt.
Measure and zoom 📏🔎
When you use the Measure tool (the ruler icon just below the 8 drawing tool category icons), you can see at a glance how much an asset has fallen or risen in numbers, percentages, bars and days. Combined with the Zoom tool (the magnifying glass with +/- icons), you can also focus on the most important areas of the chart. For both measuring and zooming, the procedure is the same: select the tool, click on the point where you want to start measuring or from where you want to zoom, and end with another click where you want to end. You can also use the "Shift" hotkey instead of the icon. To remove a measurement, simply click on the chart.
Magnet mode 🧲
Magnet mode is a wizard that helps you to bring the drawing tools closer to the nearest price bars that you hover over with the mouse. There are 2 modes: Weak magnet and Strong magnet. This tool allows traders to perfectly connect a drawing tool to a specific price point. The current values are OHLC, meaning when Magnet mode is turned on, all drawing tools will connect to the nearest open, high, low or close value. Want to draw support lines that always connect to a specific price? Use this tool.
Stay in drawing mode 🎨
If you are going to make several drawings on the chart at the same time, you may find it useful to activate this option (pencil + padlock icon), as it will allow you to make as many drawings as you want without deactivating the selected drawing tool. Remember that you must deactivate this option to return to normal mode.
Lock all drawing tools 🛑
Once the chart has been configured, if you do not want to make any further changes, you can lock everything that has been drawn with this option (padlock icon) so that you do not accidentally delete elements in the future.
Hide/Show drawings/indicators/positions & orders 👁🗨
This option allows you to toggle the visibility of the drawings, indicators, positions & orders or even all three to make comparisons with a blank chart. The keyboard shortcut is "Ctrl + Alt + H".
Drawing sync 🔄
This allows you to synchronize the drawings of the selected charts in the current layout or in all layouts (globally). You’ll surely want to test this feature as it’s perfect for those who perform multi-timeframe technical analysis and research across multiple charts or timeframes. For example, when this tool is turned on, if you draw on one chart, all of your drawings will appear on your other charts that have the same symbol.
Delete objects 🗑
With a single click, you can delete all drawings or indicators, or even both at the same time. There are also a few other options to remove specific things on your chart. Use this tool wisely and don’t accidentally delete everything!
Show favorite drawing tools toolbar ⭐
To set up the favorites toolbar, first, you must first go to one of the eight drawing categories and click on the gray star in one of the tools. When you click on it, it turns orange and the quick access toolbar for drawing tools is created. Once you have selected all your favorites, move the favorites toolbar around so that you can use it conveniently every time you want to draw something on the charts.
That’s a wrap! We hope you found this guide valuable. We'd love to hear about your favorite drawing tool, so please share your thoughts in the comments below. Additionally, if you have any feedback or suggestions, drop us a line.
- TradingView Team
