This is another tutorial in the Trading Heroes Metatrader 4 User Guide. This tutorial is for beginners and will show you how to use chart objects in Metatrader 4. They are easy to use, but can be a little confusing if you have never used them before.
This quick video will show you everything you need to know about adding, deleting and changing trendlines, boxes and other chart objects. If you prefer the text version, it is provided after the video.
Adding Objects To A Chart
To add an object to a chart, click on any of the drawing objects in the toolbar. These are the available default chart objects. From left to right and top to bottom:
- Cursor
- Crosshair
- Vertical Line
- Horizontal Line
- Trendline
- Equidistant Channel
- Fibonacci Retracement
- Text
- Text Label
- Arrows
- Thumbs Up
- Thumbs Down
- Arrow Up
- Arrow Down
- Stop Sign
- Check Sign
- Left Price Label
- Right Price Label
- Delete All Arrows
To add an object, click on the button and click on the place on the chart that you want to add the object. With some objects, you can click and drag to move the object or position the line. If you don't see the toolbar, then click on View > Toolbars > Line Studies.
Add Hidden Chart Objects
There are other chart objects that you cannot see in the default menu however. If you will notice, there is no Gann Fan or rectangle drawing tool. In order to activate these tools, you will have to customize the toolbar. Right-click anywhere on the toolbar and select Customize from the menu.
In the Customize dialog box, you can add or remove objects from the toolbar menu. You can even order the objects by clicking on the Up and Down buttons. Just highlight the object and click on the buttons to move it to the appropriate place.
Deleting And Changing Chart Objects
In order to delete a chart object, make sure that the object is selected. You can tell that an object is selected because the handles are visible. They are the squares on the line that you can click and drag to change the position and shape of the line. This is what they look like for a trendline, but it will be similar for any chart object.
You can click and drag on any of the handles to reposition the object and change its orientation. While the object is selected you can also delete it by pressing the Delete button on your keyboard or right-clicking on the object and select Delete from the menu. If you don't see the handles on an object, you can double click on it to activate them.
When you right-click on the object while it is selected, and select the object properties from the menu, you can change the color, line style and on which time frame the object appears.
Setting Chart Objects
Once you are finished, you can double click on the chart object and the handles will go away. This sets the object and now cannot be changed unless it is activated again.
Conclusion
That is how you work with chart objects in Metatrader 4. They are easy to use, but they can be a little confusing if you are using Metatrader for the first time.
The great part about chart objects in Metatrader is that you can see the objects on multiple time frames. So if you draw the object on the daily chart, you can also see it on the 4 hour chart.
To get more Metatrader 4 tips and tutorials, check out the complete Trading Heroes User's Guide. I will be adding more tutorials to the guide as quickly as possible. If there are other tutorials that you would like to see, contact me and let me know.