# Introduction to the footprint chart

### What is a footprint?

A **footprint chart** (also called a **cluster chart** or **numbers chart**) displays **trade volume at each price level** within a single candle’s high–low range. Instead of only seeing open, high, low, and close, you see **how much volume traded at each price** and, when split, **whether buyers or sellers were more aggressive** at that level.

In professional platforms, footprints are used to study **order flow**: liquidity consumption, absorption, imbalances, and where the market **accepted** or **rejected** the price.

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### Why use it?

| Question                        | Footprint helps by…                                                                                                       |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Where did most trading occur?   | Highlighting the **POC** (point of control — highest volume level in the bar).                                            |
| Who was in control?             | Comparing **bid-initiated** vs **ask-initiated** volume per price (Bid×Ask mode) or **net delta** per price (Delta mode). |
| Any one-sided aggression?       | Showing **stacked imbalances** or optional **signal markers** on the chart (see Signals on the chart).                    |
| Does this candle “look” strong? | Relating **close location** to **where volume and delta** concentrated.                                                   |

Footprints are common in **futures, crypto, and short-term** trading. What you see is only as accurate as the **data feed** behind the chart.

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### Core concepts

#### Price levels (rows)

Each **horizontal row** is a **price bin** (width = **tick size** or an aggregated step when zoomed out). All trades that print inside that bin contribute to the numbers you see.

#### Bid-initiated vs ask-initiated volume

* **Bid-initiated volume** (often labeled “bid” in the engine): volume from **aggressive buyers** (market/limit-IOC buys lifting the offer).
* **Ask-initiated volume** (often labeled “ask”): volume from **aggressive sellers** hitting the bid.

In the chart engine’s **Bid×Ask** view, these appear as **two horizontal bars** from the centerline: **ask-initiated to the left**, **bid-initiated to the right** (see Display modes).

#### Delta (per level and per bar)

**Delta** at a level is typically:

\\\[ \Delta = \text{bid-initiated volume} - \text{ask-initiated volume} \\]

Positive delta means **more aggressive buying** at that price; negative means **more aggressive selling**. **Bar delta** is the sum across all levels in the candle.

#### POC (point of control)

The **POC** is the price level with the **largest total volume** in that candle (bid + ask). It is often highlighted visually. Traders watch whether price **respects** the prior bar’s POC as support/resistance on the next bars.

#### Imbalance

An **imbalance** is when one side is **many times larger** than the other at a price (e.g. aggressive buys vastly exceed aggressive sells). The engine can mark extreme cases and emit **stack imbalance** signals.

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### Footprint vs candlestick-only charts

|              | Candlestick                     | Footprint                                               |
| ------------ | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Data         | OHLC (+ volume)                 | Volume **at price** inside the range                    |
| Strength     | Pattern & structure at a glance | **Microstructure** inside each bar                      |
| Requirements | Klines                          | Klines **plus** trade stream or pre-aggregated clusters |

You still use **trend, levels, and higher-timeframe context**; the footprint adds **execution-level detail** for timing and validation.

***

### Who this guide is for

Anyone using the app who wants to **read footprint charts** with more confidence — not developers wiring APIs.

**Developers:** see Footprint Chart (technical).

Next: Display modes.


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