By Marco BösingWhat Is a Footprint Chart?
A footprint chart is a specialized chart type in order flow analysis that breaks down the traded volume at each price level into buys and sells. Unlike a standard candlestick chart that only shows open, high, low, and close, the footprint chart reveals exactly how many contracts traded at the bid and at the ask.
The left side of each cell shows trades at the bid (sells via market orders), while the right side shows trades at the ask (buys via market orders). From this breakdown, patterns such as imbalances, absorptions, and exhaustions can be read directly.
The footprint chart is the core tool for order flow traders to identify aggressive institutional activity and make trading decisions based on actual market participation.