A comprehensive beginner’s guide to using MT4 drawing tools for chart analysis, including lines, shapes, text and Fibonacci levels.
Drawing lines and other shapes in MT4
MT4 offers a wide range of drawing tools to enhance your technical analysis and allow you to draw trendlines and other analysis elements.
Basic drawing tools
Let's begin by explaining how to draw basic lines and shapes. Basic lines can be drawn directly from the toolbar.
1. Vertical line
This is used when you want to draw a vertical line on the chart to highlight important events.
2. Horizontal line
This is used when you want to draw a horizontal line to identify support and resistance levels.
3. Trendline
This tool allows you to draw trendlines on the chart to identify trend direction.
You can customise the line or shape as follows:
To open the properties window of a line or shape in MT4, right-click on the chart, select "Objects List", choose the desired item, then click the "Edit" button.
Alternatively, right-click directly on the selected object to access its properties.
You can customise its name, description, and style in the "Common" tab of the properties window.
If you want the description to appear on the chart, tick the “Display” option in the chart settings.
This is especially useful when you need to distinguish between multiple lines on the chart.
The "Parameters" tab allows you to specify exact values, such as the level for a horizontal line.
Drawing precise lines with the mouse can be tricky, so you can input specific values here to ensure accuracy.
The "Visualisation" tab lets you choose the timeframes where the line appears. By default, lines are visible on all timeframes. You can uncheck this option to display specific timeframes.
When you observe the overall trend using a long-term chart and draw lines or other objects on a short-term chart for analysis, those short-term chart elements may also appear on the long-term chart, making it hard to read.
In such cases, only displaying short-term lines on short-term charts helps clear your analysis.
4. Parallel lines
Parallel lines are used to draw channels on your chart. Start by drawing a trendline, which serves as the base.
Double-click the line to select it (small squares will appear), then drag one of the squares to adjust the width.
Double-click the line again to confirm the position of the parallel line.
5. Fibonacci retracement levels
These are drawn by dragging the line from the bottom of the trend, or baseline, to its peak.
The default retracement levels in MT4 are:
- 0.0
- 23.6
- 38.2
- 50.0
- 61.8
- 161.8
- 261.8
- 423.6
To add other levels (e.g., 78.6), open the Fibonacci “Properties” window by double-clicking on the line or clicking the toolbar menu.
In the "Fibo Levels" tab, enter the required level then click "Add".
6. Text
MT4 allows you to add a text box to your chart.
This feature helps record notes or comments on your trades.
From the toolbar, click on “Insert,” select “Text,” then click on the chart where you want to add the comment.
When the text properties window appears, enter the text you want to display, then click “OK”.
7. Text label
Similar to text, but the label remains fixed on the screen even as time progresses.
Think of it as attaching a static label to the chart.
8. Arrows and other symbols
MT4 also allows you to draw different symbols in addition to lines.
Examples include:
You can adjust the size of these symbols by adjusting their properties.
These symbols are useful for marking entry points or highlighting key areas on the chart.
