Use Drawing Tools on Tradovate Charts
Want to mark up your Tradovate charts with trendlines, rays, or a Fibonacci? Here's the full walkthrough for drawing, styling, and managing chart objects, click-to-place, not click-and-drag.
Support, resistance, a trendline off the session low, half of reading a chart is marking it up. Tradovate's drawing tools live right on the chart, so you can sketch levels, box off a range, or drop a Fibonacci without leaving the platform. The workflow is a little different from what you might expect, though: it's click-to-place, not click-and-drag. Get that one habit right and the rest is quick. Here's the full walkthrough.
How Tradovate Drawing Tools Work
Every drawing tool sits in a small toolbar attached to the chart, and each object you draw is anchored to a price and a time on the chart, so it stays put as you scroll and zoom. You've got the usual kit: trendlines and rays, horizontal and vertical lines, rectangles and zones, Fibonacci, arrows, and text. A trendline can extend as a plain line in both directions or as a ray that runs off one end. Once something's on the chart, you can restyle it, lock it so you don't nudge it by accident, or clear the whole set in one click.
Drawing on a Tradovate Chart: Step by Step
Open the Drawing Toolbar
Hover your cursor over the chart and the toolbars fade in along the upper-left corner. Click the Drawing Tools icon on that vertical strip, it's the drawing/pencil-style icon near the bottom of the toolbar. The tool menu pops out to the side.
Pick a Drawing Tool
In the menu that opens, left-click once on the tool you want to arm it, trendline, ray, horizontal line, vertical line, rectangle, Fibonacci, arrow, or text. That's it; the tool is now active and waiting for your first click on the chart.
Click to Draw on the Chart
Here's the part that trips people up. Left-click once on the chart to drop your first anchor, move the cursor to where you want it to end, then left-click again to set the second anchor and finish the object. Don't click and drag to start a drawing, that pans the chart instead of placing your anchor. Two clean clicks and the line, ray, or box is down.
Style the Drawing in Properties
Want a fatter line or a different color? Double-click the object (or right-click it) to open its Properties window. From there you can change color, thickness, line style, and how far the object extends; for zones and rectangles you can dial in opacity too. If you like a look, flip on Save As Default so the next drawing of that type inherits the same settings.
Move, Lock, Hide, or Delete Drawings
To reshape an object, click it and drag one of its anchor points; to move the whole thing, drag its body. When your chart's the way you want it, jump back into the Drawing Tools menu and use Lock Drawings so you can't shove them around by mistake, or Hide Drawings to tuck them away without deleting anything. Need a clean slate? Remove All Drawings sits at the bottom of that menu. To delete a single object, open its Properties and click Remove.
Ruler trick: hold Shift while you draw and Tradovate shows the plot details at each anchor, price on the Y-axis, timestamp on the X-axis, and the delta between points. It turns a plain line or rectangle into a quick measuring tool.
Why This Matters
- Mark your key levels once and trade off them all session without re-drawing.
- Use rays and trendlines to project a slope forward as price develops.
- Box off supply and demand zones so your bias is obvious at a glance.
- Lock the important stuff so a stray click doesn't wreck your levels.
- Measure a move fast with the Shift-key ruler before you commit to a trade.
Take the Trade Off the Chart with PickMyTrade
Drawing the level is the planning. The hard part is acting on it the instant price gets there. PickMyTrade takes your TradingView alerts and fires them into your Tradovate account as live orders automatically, so the setup you mapped on the chart becomes a real trade without you racing to click.
Turn Your Chart Levels Into Trades
PickMyTrade fires your TradingView alerts into Tradovate as live orders automatically, so the setup you mapped on the chart becomes a real trade without you racing to click.
Start Your Free 5-Day TrialFrequently Asked Questions
You're click-and-dragging to start. Tradovate reads a drag as a pan. Left-click once to place the first anchor, then left-click again for the second, single clicks, not a drag.
Double-click the object to open its Properties window and click Remove. That removes only that object. Remove All Drawings in the Drawing Tools menu is the nuclear option that clears everything.
Drawings anchor to a specific date and timeframe, so scrolling far from where you drew, or switching devices or intervals, can make them look gone.
This guide is for educational and informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading futures and other leveraged products carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. PickMyTrade is an independent third-party automation platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tradovate, Inc. "Tradovate" and all related names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Platform features and steps change over time, so always confirm the current process in the official Tradovate platform and documentation before acting.