What is a footprint chart?

It is a candle broken down by price level, showing how much volume traded at the bid and at the ask at each level.

Does forex have footprint charts?

Platforms can draw them, but spot forex has no central exchange, so the volume usually comes from one broker or from tick counts and may not represent the whole market.

Blog / Technical

Footprint Charts Explained: Bid x Ask, Delta, Imbalance and Limits

What a footprint chart shows, how to read delta and imbalances, what data it needs, why forex is different and where you can try one for free.

What a footprint chart is

A normal candle shows open, high, low and close. A footprint chart opens the candle up and shows, at each price inside it, how much volume traded at the bid (sellers hitting the bid) and at the ask (buyers lifting the offer). The two numbers, often displayed side by side, show who was aggressive at each level.

Delta

Delta is volume at the ask minus volume at the bid. Positive delta means aggressive buying dominated, negative delta means aggressive selling. Delta can be shown per price level, per candle and cumulatively across candles. It is a description of what happened, not a forecast.

Imbalances and the point of control

An imbalance appears when volume on one side at a price is much larger than the opposing side one price level away, for example a ratio of 3:1 or more. Several imbalances in a row are called stacked. The price with the most total volume inside a bar is its point of control. Traders look at these as places of acceptance or rejection, together with price structure.

What data it needs

A footprint needs tick-level trades with a flag for whether each trade hit the bid or the ask. Futures and many crypto exchanges provide this. Over-the-counter forex has no central exchange, so volume often comes from a single broker or tick counts and does not represent the whole market. Treat forex footprints with caution.

Limits and common mistakes

A footprint does not tell you the future, and a big delta can still be followed by a reversal. The data depends on the exchange and the feed. Many beginners add too many indicators to the cluster view and lose clarity. Combine it with market structure and a clear stop loss.

Where to try one for free

On 2026-10-23, ATAS's pricing page stated that footprint charts are included on all of its plans, including the free Start plan with delayed futures data and real-time crypto. See the free order flow comparison for the limits and what we could not verify.

Key takeaways

A footprint shows bid and ask volume at each price in a candle.
Delta = ask volume minus bid volume.
It needs tick data with bid/ask classification.
Forex footprints can be misleading because there is no central volume.

FAQ

What is a footprint chart? It is a candle broken down by price level, showing how much volume traded at the bid and at the ask at each level.
Does forex have footprint charts? Platforms can draw them, but spot forex has no central exchange, so the volume usually comes from one broker or from tick counts and may not represent the whole market.

Educational content, not financial advice.