Creating Charts

A chart is a graphical representation of price movements of a security, commodity, currency pair, or other financial instrument over a specific period. Charts are fundamental tools used by traders and investors to analyze and predict future price movements based on historical data.

In MultiCharts a chart is created for a financial instrument, designated by a ticker, such as @ES, BTCUSD, AAPL.

How to Create a Chart

To create a chart:

1. In the main MultiCharts window go to File → New → Chart Window or right-click the empty space → Chart Window.
2. Choose the desired instrument from the list on the Instrument tab or add a new symbol from the data source via the Add Symbol button → select the category tab → enter the symbol name or symbol root in the Symbol field → press Lookup.
3. Choose the necessary Chart Type and Settings in the Settings tab:
   • Chart Resolution – by default it is set to 1 Minute.
   • Quote Field – by default it is set to Trade.
   • Sessions – Default session will be used.
   • Data Range – by default it is set to 80 Bars Back.
   • Time Zone – by default it is set to Exchange.
4. Customize your chart appearance in the Style and Scaling tabs:
   • Chart Style – by default it is set to OHLC bars.
   • Chart Scaling – by default it is set to Screen.
5. Click OK.

Creating Chart Using Format Instruments Window

To create a new chart using Format Instruments window:

1. Open the Format Instruments window.
   
   To open the Format Instruments window, click the Format Instruments icon on the main toolbar;
   if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.
   
   The Format Instruments window can also be opened by one of the following methods:
     - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; double-click once the Pointer changes into a Hand ;
     - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; once the Pointer changes into a Hand right-click and then click Format Symbol Name;
     - Right-click on an empty area of the chart and then click Format Instruments; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button;
     - Select Format in the main menu and click Instrument; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.
2. Select the Instrument tab.
3. Select a data feed from the Data Source drop-down list box.
4. Select a symbol from the list of available symbols in All Instruments tab, or use the category tabs to list only a particular category of symbols; the list can be sorted by any column, in ascending or descending order, by clicking on the column header.
   If you can't find a symbol, see Adding Symbols to Symbol List.
5. Double-click the symbol, or click OK, to create a chart with the default settings.

To learn more about changing the symbol settings read the following:

• Changing Symbols
• Chart Resolution
• Quote Field
• Sessions
• Data Range
• Time Zone
• Data Numbers
• Using SubCharts
• Chart Style
• Chart Scaling

Understanding Multi-Symbol Charts

It is possible to add several data series to the same Chart Window. Each data series in a multi-symbol chart has a unique Data Number. The Data Number is assigned according to the order in which the data series was added to the Chart Window.

Any data series can be deleted from the Chart Window, except for the data series that was added first (Data #1).

Inserting Additional Symbols into a Chart Window

To insert an additional symbols’ data series into a Chart Window, click the Insert Instrument icon on the main toolbar.

Additional data series can also be inserted by one of the following methods:

• Use the F5 key.
• Select Insert in the main menu and click Instrument.
• Right-click on the chart area and then click Insert Instrument.
• If the Chart Window already contains more then one data series, right-click on the chart area, then click Format Instruments, and click the Add button.

Deleting Symbols from a Multi-Symbol Chart

Any of the symbols (data series) can be deleted from a multi-symbol Chart Window, except for the first symbol that was added (the symbol with the Data # 1).

To delete a symbol (data series), right-click on the chart area and then click Format Instruments; in the Format Objects window that appears, select the data series that is to be deleted and click the Remove button.

Data series can also be deleted by one of the following methods:

• Position the mouse pointer over the data series that is to be deleted; once the Pointer changes into a Hand , right-click and then click Remove Series.
• Position the mouse pointer over the data series that is to be deleted; once the Pointer changes into a Hand , click on the data series and then press the Delete key on the keyboard.

Selecting the Active Symbol (Data Series) in a Multi-Symbol Chart

In a multi-symbol Chart Window only one of the data series at a time is active. The active data series is the data series to which any changes will be applied. Any one of the data series in a multi-symbol chart can be selected as active at any time.

Before making changes to a particular symbol's chart within a multi-symbol Chart Window you should first make sure that it is the active symbol (data series).

The first symbol (data series) added to a multi-symbol Chart Window is the active symbol by default.

To select a symbol (data series) as active simply click on the data series.

Creating Charts Using the Command Line Toolbar

One new chart (if there are no charts in the current workspace) can be created by entering the symbol parameters into the Command Line toolbar.

If the symbol name is known, the simplest way to create a new chart is to enter the symbol name and all known symbol parameters into the command line. Any omitted symbol parameters will automatically be selected, and the symbol plotted.

By default, the Command Line toolbar is displayed docked to the top of the application window.

To learn more about toolbars, see Understanding Toolbars.

Symbol parameters consist of the Symbol Name, Data Source, Category, and Exchange parameters. Depending on the data source and the symbol category, one or more parameters are required in order to precisely identify the symbol to be plotted.

Type in "IB:AAPL" to create a chart with AAPL from Interactive Brokers.
Type in "TS:@ES" to create a chart with @ES from TradeStation.

Find more info about Command Line on this page.

Merging Data Sources Into a Single Chart

In some instances real-time data and historical data must be obtained from two separate data sources. A real-time data source and a historical data source can be merged into a single chart.

To create a new chart:

1. Make sure that Merging is enabled in Preferences window.
2. Open the Format Instruments window.
   
   To open the Format Instruments window, click the Format Instruments icon on the main toolbar;
   if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.
   
   The Format Instruments window can also be opened by one of the following methods:
     - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; double-click once the Pointer changes into a Hand ;
     - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; once the Pointer changes into a Hand right-click and then click Format Symbol Name;
     - Right-click on an empty area of the chart and then click Format Instruments; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button;
     - Select Format in the main menu and click Instrument; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.
3. Select the Instrument tab.
4. Check Merge Data Sources into a Single Chart check box.
5. From the For drop-down list box, select History.
6. Select a data feed for the historical data from the Data Source drop-down list box.
7. Select a symbol from the list of available symbols in All Instruments tab, or use the category tabs to list only a particular category of symbols; the list can be sorted by any column, in ascending or descending order, by clicking on the column header.
   If you can't find a symbol, see Adding Symbols to Symbol List.
8. From the For drop-down list box, select RealTime.
9. Select a data feed for the real-time data from the Data Source drop-down list box.
10. Select a symbol from the list of available symbols in All Instruments tab, or use the category tabs to list only a particular category of symbols; the list can be sorted by any column, in ascending or descending order, by clicking on the column header.
    If you can't find a symbol, see Adding Symbols to Symbol List
11. Double-click the symbol, or click OK, to create a chart with default settings.

If you have Enable data source merging option disabled in Preferences window it is possible to spot charts that have merged historical and real-time data sources. Merging of different data sources is on indication can be seen in Format Instrument window.