SabrTrader Documentation

Drawing Tools & Customizable Chart Toolbar

The SabrTrader drawing toolbar is the configurable dock of drawing and command buttons that sits on the left edge of every chart. It contains categorised drawing tools (lines, shapes, Fibonacci, Gann, chart patterns, Elliott Wave, labels, cycles, volume tools and position sizing), a favourites system, template-bound buttons that arm a fully styled drawing in a single click, and action buttons that fire platform commands such as switching the active ATM strategy or flattening all positions. This page documents every control on the toolbar, how drawing templates and buttons are created, and the trading concepts behind the tools you are most likely to bind to them.

Overview: what the drawing toolbar is

The drawing toolbar is a vertical dock attached to the left edge of each SabrTrader chart. It exposes every drawing tool the platform ships with, grouped into categories, plus user-created buttons. Clicking a button arms a tool: the next clicks on the chart place the drawing.

The toolbar is fully user-configurable. Nothing about the default layout is fixed — the layout you receive on first install is a starting point, not a requirement. A customised toolbar will not look like the default one.

The design goal is explicit: reduce every routine chart action to one click. Instead of drawing a Fibonacci retracement, opening its properties and applying a different template, you create one button per use case and click the correct button first.

What is configurable on the toolbar:

• Which categories appear. Unused categories (for example Gann) can be removed from the bar.
• Which tools are starred. Starred tools are collected under a single star icon as your favourites set.
• One-click or two-click access. A toggle expands all starred tools inline on the bar instead of hiding them behind the star.
• Template-bound buttons. A button can be tied to a saved drawing template, so it arms a tool that is already styled and already parameterised.
• Multiple buttons for the same tool. Two Fibonacci retracement buttons with different level sets and different colours are permitted and encouraged.
• Action buttons. Buttons that execute a platform or indicator command rather than draw anything.
• Ordering and visibility. Buttons can be sorted alphabetically, and the whole bar can be hidden and popped back out from the chart edge.

The toolbar is part of the chart, so its layout is stored with the chart and workspace. See platform setup, workspaces and your first chart for how charts and workspaces are saved.

Anatomy of the toolbar: every control explained

Read the toolbar from top to bottom. Each item is either a category (a group of stock tools), a favourites control, a user button, or a toolbar management control.

Category icons

A category icon represents a group of related drawing tools. Clicking the icon opens a flyout list of every tool in that group. The icon itself usually shows the last tool used from that group, so a category that was last used for a trend line displays the trend line glyph.

Hovering over any entry shows a tooltip with the tool name. Selecting a tool from the flyout arms it immediately.

Star (favourites) icon

The star icon is the container for your favourites. Any tool inside any category can be starred from its flyout entry. Starring is per tool, not per category: starring the trend channel does not star the rest of the Lines group. Template-bound buttons can be starred individually too, so three Fibonacci retracement presets can all live under the star as three separate entries.

One-click toggle

A single icon controls how starred tools are presented:

• Hollow (off) — starred tools stay collapsed behind the star icon. Reaching a favourite takes two clicks: click the star, then click the tool.
• Filled (on) — every starred tool is expanded inline onto the toolbar. Reaching a favourite takes one click.

The toggle changes presentation only. Tools remain available from their own category in both states, and unstarring a tool never deletes it.

Add button (+)

The plus button opens the menu used to add new items to the bar: a new button, a new drawing button, a drawing button created from a saved template, or an action button. Each option is documented in Creating toolbar buttons.

Delete and category removal

Right-clicking a button offers a delete option, which asks for confirmation before removing the button. A whole category can also be removed from the bar if you never use it. Removing a category removes the shortcut, not the tools themselves.

Sort alphabetically

The toolbar can be sorted alphabetically so button order is deterministic. This is useful once you have more than roughly ten buttons, because muscle memory depends on stable positions.

Auto-hide and edge pop-out

The toolbar can be hidden to recover horizontal chart space. When hidden, moving the pointer against the left edge of the chart pops the bar back out temporarily. Traders who rely on one-click access normally leave it permanently visible.

Armed tool behaviour and properties

After you click a tool button, the tool stays armed until you complete the drawing on the chart. Every drawing has its own properties dialog, opened by double-clicking the drawing or right-clicking it and choosing properties or parameters. That dialog is where style, colour, levels, extension and label settings live, and where templates are saved and applied.

Tool categories reference

The table below lists the toolbar categories and the tools typically found inside each. Every tool has its own properties dialog and can therefore have its own templates.

Category	Representative tools	Primary use
Lines	Trend line, horizontal line, vertical line, trend channel, horizontal channel, regression channel, Fibonacci channel, ray, extended line	Mapping trend slope, marking static support and resistance, bounding balance areas
Fibonacci	Retracement, extension/expansion, speed fan, time zones, arcs, Fibonacci channel	Pullback zones, projected targets, time-based projections
Shapes	Rectangle, ellipse, triangle, arrow, polygon	Boxing consolidations, marking zones, pointing at events
Gann	Gann square, Gann fan, Gann box	Price-and-time geometry based on W.D. Gann's angles and squaring methods
Chart Patterns	XABCD harmonic pattern, Gartley, Bat, Butterfly, head and shoulders, triangle pattern, ABCD	Fibonacci-ratio pattern recognition and reversal zones
Elliott Wave	Impulse wave labels (1-5), corrective labels (A-B-C), degree variants	Marking wave counts on the chart
Brushes / Annotations	Freehand brush, highlighter, marker	Freehand sketching during review and recording
Labeling	Text, callout, price label, note, flag	Written annotation of levels, plans and observations
Cycles	Cycle lines, sine wave, time cycles	Periodic timing studies
Volume tools	Fixed Range Volume Profile, Anchored VWAP	Drawing-based volume analysis over a user-chosen range or anchor bar
Position sizing / risk-reward	Long position tool, short position tool	Converting entry, stop and target prices into contract size, risk and reward

Volume-based drawings and the indicator versions of the same studies are complementary: see the Volume Profile indicator documentation for session, weekly and composite profiles that plot automatically rather than being drawn by hand.

Starring tools and one-click versus two-click mode

How to star a tool

1. Click the category that contains the tool (for example Lines).
2. Locate the tool in the flyout list.
3. Click the star control next to that tool entry.

The tool is now a favourite. It appears under the star icon, and it also remains in its original category. Starring and unstarring are non-destructive and can be changed at any time.

Two-click mode (toggle hollow)

With the one-click toggle hollowed out, favourites are collapsed. The workflow is: click the star icon, then click the tool. This keeps the toolbar short — one icon per category plus one star — at the cost of an extra click per drawing.

One-click mode (toggle filled)

With the toggle filled in, every starred tool is expanded inline onto the toolbar. A horizontal channel, a regression channel and three Fibonacci retracement presets each get their own permanent button and are one click away.

The trade-off is vertical toolbar space. Ten favourites is comfortable; forty favourites turns the bar into a wall of near-identical icons that is slower to read than the two-click menu. Keep the starred set to the tools you genuinely use daily.

What does not change

• Unstarred tools are still reachable from their category in both modes.
• Switching modes never deletes buttons or templates.
• Template-bound buttons behave like any other tool with respect to starring.

Drawing templates: saving styles, colours and parameters

A drawing template is a saved set of style and parameter values for one drawing tool. It records colours, line widths and styles, which levels are shown, label settings, extension behaviour and tool-specific parameters.

Creating a template

1. Draw the tool once on any chart.
2. Double-click the drawing, or right-click it and open properties/parameters.
3. Configure it: line colours and widths, visible levels and their ratios, label text and visibility, extend-left/extend-right, snapping and opacity.
4. Save the configuration as a named template from the same dialog.

Applying a template

From a drawing's properties dialog, Apply Template replaces the current drawing's settings with those of a saved template. This is the manual path — functional, but slow if you do it on every drawing. The faster path is to bind each template to its own toolbar button so the drawing is already correct when it is placed.

Why templates matter

Many distinct analytical ideas use the same base tool with different numbers:

• A measured move Fibonacci retracement shows the standard retracement ratios plus a 100% projection of the first leg.
• A Wolfe range Fibonacci expansion shows 100% and 200% projections of a prior range as targets.
• A Gartley-oriented preset shows the specific ratios that pattern relies on.

All three are the same Fibonacci tool with different level sets and colours. Templates make them three separate, instantly available presets.

Defaults

Templates are also how you fix annoyances permanently. If you always want a regression channel to extend to the right, set extend-right in the properties dialog and save it as the default template for that tool. Every future regression channel then extends without further action.

Creating toolbar buttons: the + menu explained

The plus (+) button on the toolbar opens the add menu. Each entry creates a different kind of button.

Menu entry	What it creates	Use it when
New Button	A generic button slot added to the toolbar	You want to add a toolbar item and choose its contents from the subsequent dialog
New Drawing Button	A button bound to a stock drawing tool, chosen from the full category list (Lines, Shapes, Fibonacci, Gann, Chart Patterns, Elliott Wave, Brushes, Labeling, Cycles, Volume tools, Position sizing)	You want one-click access to an unstyled tool, such as a vertical line, text label or position-sizing tool
Drawing Button From Template	A button bound to a saved template of a tool, so one click arms a fully styled and parameterised drawing	You have already saved templates (for example anchored VWAP long and anchored VWAP short) and want one button per template
Action Button	A button bound to a platform, indicator or trading command instead of a drawing	You want one-click ATM switching, footprint toggles, market profile split/merge, journal access or flatten all

Rules and behaviour

• Multiple buttons per base tool are allowed. Two Fibonacci retracement buttons, two anchored VWAP buttons and two Fixed Range Volume Profile buttons can coexist.
• Colour is set on the button/template, not after drawing. Assign a distinct colour per button so you can identify which preset produced a drawing at a glance.
• Templates must exist before they can be bound. Drawing Button From Template only lists templates you have already saved from a drawing's properties dialog.
• Deleting a button is done by right-clicking it, choosing delete and confirming. Deleting the button does not delete the underlying template, so the button can be recreated from the same template later.

Worked example: two Fibonacci retracement presets

This example builds two Fibonacci buttons that answer two different questions: where is the pullback likely to hold, and where is the extended target.

Step 1 — build the measured-move template

1. Draw a Fibonacci retracement from a swing low to a swing high.
2. Open its properties.
3. Keep 38.2%, 50%, 61.8% and 78.6% visible; add a 100% projection level so the tool also shows a measured move of the first leg.
4. Set the colour (for example blue) and enable price labels.
5. Save as a template named Fib - Measured Move.

Step 2 — build the Wolfe-range expansion template

1. Draw the same tool again.
2. In properties, add the 100% and 200% expansion levels and remove levels you do not need for projection work.
3. Set a different colour (for example orange).
4. Save as Fib - Wolfe Range 100/200.

Step 3 — bind each template to its own button

1. Click + on the toolbar.
2. Choose Drawing Button From Template.
3. Navigate to the Fibonacci retracement group and select Fib - Measured Move.
4. Assign the button colour to match the template colour and confirm.
5. Repeat for Fib - Wolfe Range 100/200.
6. Star both buttons and enable one-click mode.

Step 4 — use them

On a 30-minute chart, click the measured-move button and drag from the swing low to the swing high. Price pulling back into the 61.8%–78.6% band — the golden zone — and resuming higher is the continuation case the preset exists to measure. The 100% projection above the swing high is the unmet target: if price has reclaimed the golden zone and is trending, that level is the first objective.

To measure a range expansion instead, click the Wolfe-range button and draw across the prior consolidation. The 100% and 200% levels project the size of that range beyond its boundary as target zones. Because the two presets carry different colours, both can sit on the same chart without ambiguity.

Worked example: long and short Anchored VWAP buttons

Anchored VWAP is a volume-weighted average price calculated from a user-chosen anchor bar instead of from the session open. Anchored from a swing high, it approximates the average fill price of participants who entered short at that high; anchored from a swing low, it approximates the average price of participants who entered long there.

Build two templates

1. Place an anchored VWAP on the chart.
2. Open properties, set a colour for the short-side version (for example red), set line width and label visibility, and save as AVWAP - Short.
3. Place a second one, set a contrasting colour (for example green), and save as AVWAP - Long.

Bind buttons

Click + → Drawing Button From Template → Anchored VWAP → choose AVWAP - Long. Repeat for AVWAP - Short. The submenu lists every saved template for that tool.

If you accidentally create a duplicate button, right-click it, choose delete and confirm. No template is lost.

Anchoring correctly

When an anchored VWAP is first placed it frequently defaults its anchor to the edge of the visible chart rather than to the bar you intended. Drag the anchor handle onto the exact pivot bar — the swing high for a short-side VWAP, the swing low for a long-side VWAP. An unmoved anchor produces a line that looks plausible but measures the wrong population of participants.

Reading it

Price returning to a short-anchored VWAP from below means the average short from that high is back at break-even. That is a common place for responsive selling to reappear, which is why the line often acts as resistance. The mirror logic applies to long-anchored VWAPs acting as support. Anchored VWAP is strongest as a reference when it coincides with another independent level — see Confluence.

Worked example: Fixed Range Volume Profile presets

A Fixed Range Volume Profile is a volume histogram computed over a start and end range you draw yourself, rather than over a fixed session. It answers: where was business actually done inside this specific move?

Why multiple templates

• HVN-weighted template — styling that emphasises High Volume Nodes, the heavy shelves where price tends to stall and rotate.
• LVN-weighted template — styling that emphasises Low Volume Nodes, the thin pockets price tends to travel through quickly.
• Crypto template — different value-area percentage, row size, opacity or colour scheme suited to 24-hour markets.
• Default template — your standard futures or equities settings.

Create and bind

1. Draw a Fixed Range Volume Profile over any range.
2. Open properties, configure row height, value-area percentage, POC and value-area line styles, histogram colours and opacity.
3. Save as a named template.
4. Click + → Drawing Button From Template → Fixed Range Volume Profile → select the template.
5. Repeat for each variant and colour-code the buttons.

Use it

On a 5-minute chart, click the button and drag across the session from the open to the current bar. The profile returns the session POC (the price with the most traded volume), the value area boundaries, and the session low or high as structural references. A POC that sits well below current price marks unfinished business that often attracts a later retest.

Action buttons: trading and platform commands

An action button executes a command when clicked. It draws nothing. Action buttons are created from + → Action Button, are given a colour in the button dialog, and then sit on the toolbar alongside drawing buttons.

ATM strategy switching

An ATM strategy is a preconfigured bracket template that attaches a stop loss and profit target when an entry fills and manages those exits by rule. The chart trading panel has an ATM selector dropdown; an action button can set a specific ATM directly.

Example: the active ATM is a 10-tick stop / 20-tick target scalp bracket. Clicking a green action button bound to a 200/400 bracket switches the selection instantly, converting the next entry from a scalp into a runner trade without opening the dropdown.

This matters when you maintain many ATMs. Scrolling a list of twenty-five templates mid-move is slow; one button per frequently used bracket is not. Full ATM configuration — ATR-based stops, break-even triggers, trailing and auto-flatten — is documented in ATM Strategies: ATR stops, brackets and auto trailing.

Drawing tool toggles

Action buttons can turn a drawing tool or group of drawings on and off, which is useful for decluttering a chart during execution and restoring the annotations afterwards.

Indicator actions

Some indicators expose actions that an action button can fire. These only have an effect when that indicator is actually present on the chart.

Indicator	Available actions	What they do
Footprint chart	Left cell, right cell, bar stats, log, summary table toggle	Show or hide the bid-side cell values, the ask-side cell values, the per-bar statistics block, logarithmic cell scaling, and the session summary table
Market Profile (TPO)	Split profiles, merge profiles	Break a composite TPO distribution into its individual day profiles, or combine day profiles into one composite
Volume Profile	Show/hide profile elements	Toggle profile overlays without opening the indicator settings dialog

Platform commands

• Open journal — opens the trade journal window. See Automated Trade Journal and AI Coach.
• Flatten all positions — closes every open position and cancels working orders immediately. This is a destructive command and should be positioned away from drawing buttons so it is never clicked by accident.

Colour assignment is done in the button creation dialog. Use a distinct, reserved colour (red, for instance) for destructive commands and never reuse that colour for drawing buttons.

Trading concepts behind the tools

Fibonacci retracement and the golden zone

A Fibonacci retracement is drawn between a swing low and a swing high and places horizontal levels at fixed ratios of that swing: commonly 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8% and 78.6%. These levels mark candidate pullback zones where a trend may resume. The golden zone is the 61.8%–78.6% band (often narrowed to 61.8%–65%), the deepest retracement that still leaves the original swing intact, and the area where continuation entries are most commonly sought.

Measured moves and range expansion

A measured move projects a second leg roughly equal in size to the first leg, measured from the end of the intervening consolidation. A Wolfe range or Fibonacci expansion projects 100% and 200% of a prior range beyond its boundary. Both are target-setting techniques, not entry signals: they answer "how far", not "when".

Fibonacci extensions, fans and channels

A Fibonacci extension plots levels beyond 100% of a swing (127.2%, 161.8%, 200%) as profit targets. A Fibonacci speed fan draws angled lines from a pivot so projected support and resistance depends on both price and elapsed time. A Fibonacci channel projects ratio lines parallel to a trend so they slope with the move rather than sitting flat.

Channels

A trendline connects successive swing highs or swing lows and describes the direction and slope of price. A horizontal channel is two parallel horizontal lines bounding a balance or range area. A regression channel is statistical rather than hand-fitted: it fits a linear regression through price over the selected range and places standard-deviation bands around it as boundaries, so the centre line is the best-fit trend and the bands show typical deviation from it.

Geometry tools

An Andrews Pitchfork is a three-point median-line tool: a pivot plus two subsequent swing points define a median line and two parallel tines that project a channel forward. Gann tools (square, fan, box) apply W.D. Gann's price-and-time geometry, treating a fixed price movement per unit of time as a reference angle. Harmonic patterns (Gartley, Bat, Butterfly, XABCD) are Fibonacci-ratio-constrained five-point structures used to locate potential reversal zones. Elliott Wave labelling tools annotate impulsive (1-5) and corrective (A-B-C) counts.

Anchored VWAP as average participant price

VWAP is volume-weighted average price. Anchoring it to a chosen bar rather than the session open redefines the population being averaged. An anchored VWAP from a swing high is approximately the average entry price of everyone who sold at that high; an anchored VWAP from a swing low is the average price of everyone who bought there. Price returning to that line puts that cohort at break-even, which is why the line frequently produces a reaction.

Volume Profile: POC, value area, HVN and LVN

A Volume Profile is a histogram of traded volume at each price over a selected period. Its key readings are:

• Point of Control (POC) — the single price with the most traded volume. It acts as a magnet and a frequent target.
• Value Area — the price range containing roughly 70% of the profile's volume. Its upper edge (VAH) and lower edge (VAL) are where responsive sellers and buyers tend to react.
• High Volume Node (HVN) — a price shelf with heavy traded volume; price tends to slow or rotate there.
• Low Volume Node (LVN) — a thin area with little traded volume; price tends to traverse it quickly.

A weekly or composite profile aggregates multiple sessions and reveals longer-term acceptance. Prior weekly POCs are commonly used as targets, and value-area edges that acted as resistance on the way up frequently act as support on a retest from above.

Market Profile (TPO), footprint and delta

A Market Profile (TPO) shows how much time price spent at each level rather than how much volume traded there; profiles can be split per day or merged into a composite. A footprint chart shows bid and ask traded volume inside each bar, with cells, per-bar statistics and a session summary table that can be toggled. Delta is the net difference between volume traded at the ask and volume traded at the bid, and indicates which side of the market was aggressive.

Confluence

Confluence is the alignment of two or more independent levels at the same price — for example a short-anchored VWAP meeting a 50% retracement of the same swing, or a weekly POC sitting on a value-area edge. Confluent levels are higher-quality references because two different measurement methods agree, and they are the main reason to make multiple preset tools one click apart.

Risk and execution tools

The position sizing tool is a drawing that converts an entry price, a stop price and a target price into contract size, monetary risk and reward-to-risk ratio. The ATM strategy turns an entry into a managed bracket. Scalp versus runner management is the practice of switching between a tight-target bracket and a wide-target bracket so part of a position can trend. Flatten all positions closes everything and cancels working orders at once.

Step-by-step: build a one-click chart workspace

1. Open a chart and expose the toolbar. Create or open a chart. If the left dock is hidden, move the pointer against the left chart edge to pop it out, then pin it so it stays visible.
2. Remove categories you never use. If you do not trade Gann geometry, remove the Gann category from the bar. The tools remain in the platform; only the shortcut is gone.
3. Star five to eight tools you actually use daily. Open each category and star the specific tools — for example horizontal line, horizontal channel, trend line, regression channel, rectangle, text, Fixed Range Volume Profile, Anchored VWAP. Resist starring everything.
4. Enable one-click mode. Click the one-click toggle so it fills in. All starred tools expand inline. If the bar becomes too long, unstar the least-used entries rather than reverting the toggle.
5. Create styled templates for each repeated use case. Draw each tool once, open its properties, set colours, levels, labels and extension behaviour, then save a named template. Create one template per analytical purpose: Fib - Measured Move, Fib - Wolfe Range, AVWAP - Long, AVWAP - Short, FRVP - Default, FRVP - Crypto, Regression - Extend Right.
6. Add Drawing Button From Template entries and colour-code them. Click + → Drawing Button From Template, pick each saved template, and assign a button colour that matches the drawing colour. Long variants one colour, short variants another.
7. Add action buttons. Click + → Action Button. Add your two or three most-used ATM strategies (for example a 10/20 scalp and a 200/400 runner), footprint cell and summary-table toggles if you use footprint charts, market profile split/merge if you use TPO, open journal, and flatten all positions. Give flatten-all a reserved colour and place it apart from the drawing buttons.
8. Order the bar. Sort alphabetically for determinism, or drag buttons so related items sit together: lines at the top, Fibonacci next, volume tools below, action buttons last.
9. Save the chart and the workspace. Save the chart as a chart template if you want the same toolbar on new charts, and save the workspace so the layout survives a restart. Repeat for each instrument class if their tool needs differ.

Practical chart setup example

The configuration demonstrated in the source video uses two timeframes and a small number of repeated tools.

30-minute chart — context

• A weekly Volume Profile overlay spanning roughly four weeks, used to see where business was done at a higher timeframe.
• Horizontal lines marking each prior weekly POC. These are treated as potential targets, because price repeatedly rotates back toward unfinished business.
• A horizontal line at the value area edge that the market has reacted to repeatedly — first as resistance, then, after acceptance above it, as a support candidate on retest.
• Fibonacci retracements drawn swing low to swing high to identify golden-zone pullbacks and unmet 100% projections.

5-minute chart — execution

• A Fibonacci retracement on each significant swing. When swings are large, pullbacks into the golden zone recur in both directions, which is exactly the repetitive task that preset buttons remove friction from.
• A short-side anchored VWAP from the relevant swing high, in a colour reserved for short anchors.
• A Fixed Range Volume Profile across the session, giving the day's POC and low.

The analytical payoff is confluence: a 50% retracement that coincides with the short-anchored VWAP is a stronger resistance reference than either level alone, because two independent methods — swing geometry and average participant price — point at the same price.

Housekeeping

Lines drawn purely to highlight something during analysis should be deleted once they have served their purpose. A stale highlight line is indistinguishable from a researched level after a few hours, and acting on one is a straightforward way to take a bad trade.

Best practices

• Star only daily tools. The favourites set should fit on the toolbar without scrolling. Everything else stays in its category, one extra click away.
• Colour-code long versus short variants. Use one colour family for long/bullish presets and a clearly different one for short/bearish presets, and keep the scheme identical across anchored VWAP, position sizing and Fibonacci presets.
• Template first, restyle never. Configure the tool before you place it. Restyling drawings after the fact is the exact workflow the button system exists to eliminate.
• Set sensible defaults. Extend-right on regression channels and trend channels, snapping behaviour, label visibility and opacity should all be baked into the default template for each tool.
• Group related buttons. Keep Fibonacci presets adjacent, volume tools adjacent, and action buttons in their own block.
• Isolate destructive actions. Place flatten-all at the opposite end of the bar from drawing buttons, in a reserved colour.
• Prune regularly. Delete old drawings at the end of each session and remove buttons you have not used in a month.
• Save the workspace after any toolbar change. Layout changes that are not saved are lost at the next restart.
• Keep per-instrument-class layouts. Crypto, index futures and equities often need different profile settings; use separate chart templates rather than one compromise layout.
• Verify indicator presence before relying on indicator action buttons. A footprint toggle only does something when a footprint chart is on the chart.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Consequence	Fix
Starring every tool	One-click mode becomes a wall of similar icons and is slower than the two-click menu	Unstar anything not used daily; keep the favourites set under roughly ten entries
Creating a duplicate button for a template that already has one	Two identical buttons, wasted toolbar space, ambiguity about which is which	Check the existing bar before adding; right-click the duplicate, delete and confirm
Using the same colour for long and short variants	Misreading which anchored VWAP or Fibonacci preset produced a line on the chart	Reserve distinct colours per direction and keep them consistent across all tools
Never dragging the anchored VWAP anchor	The VWAP defaults to the screen edge and measures the wrong participant cohort	After placing, drag the anchor handle onto the exact swing high or swing low bar
Expecting indicator action buttons to work with the indicator absent	Clicking appears to do nothing	Add the footprint, market profile or volume profile indicator to the chart first
Leaving temporary highlight lines on the chart	Stale lines are mistaken for researched levels and traded	Delete annotation lines as soon as they have served their purpose
Deleting an entire category you occasionally need	Hunting for a tool mid-session	Only remove categories you truly never open; otherwise leave the category and simply do not star its tools
Not saving the workspace after rebuilding the toolbar	The whole layout is lost at the next restart	Save the chart template and the workspace after every structural change
Binding the flatten-all action next to drawing buttons	Accidental flattening of live positions	Move it to the end of the bar in a reserved colour

Next steps

Related documentation that extends what this page covers:

• Volume Profile indicator — session, weekly and composite profiles, POC, value area, HVN and LVN settings.
• Footprint chart indicator — cells, bar statistics, summary table and delta, all of which can be toggled by action buttons.
• ATM strategies — building the bracket templates that ATM action buttons select.
• Platform setup, workspaces and your first chart — saving chart templates and workspaces so toolbar layouts persist.
• SuperDOM and order book liquidity heatmap setup — the execution surface that pairs with chart trading.
• Automated trade journal and AI Coach — the journal that an action button can open.

SabrTrader offers a two-week trial of the full product. The download is the complete version, not a feature-limited build: it includes the TDU premium indicators, the algo design tools and auto strategy builder, the AI features, and Risk Master. On starting the trial you receive an onboarding email containing a walkthrough video and setup links. To evaluate the platform properly you need to connect a data feed, and to use the AI features you need to connect a large language model provider — seven or eight providers are selectable, as described in AI setup: connecting an LLM provider.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add a drawing tool to the SabrTrader toolbar?

Click the + button on the chart's left-side drawing toolbar and choose New Drawing Button. Browse the category list (Lines, Shapes, Fibonacci, Gann, Chart Patterns, Elliott Wave, Brushes, Labeling, Cycles, Volume tools, Position sizing) and select the tool. A button for that tool is added to the toolbar. If you want the button to arm a pre-styled version of the tool, use Drawing Button From Template instead.

What does starring a drawing tool do?

Starring marks a tool as a favourite. Starred tools are collected under the star icon on the toolbar, so you can reach them without opening their category. Starring is per tool, not per category — starring the trend channel does not star the whole Lines group — and template-bound buttons can be starred individually. Starred tools also remain available in their original category.

What is the difference between one-click and two-click toolbar mode?

The one-click toggle controls how favourites are displayed. When the toggle is hollow (off), starred tools stay collapsed behind the star icon, so using one takes two clicks: star, then tool. When the toggle is filled (on), every starred tool is expanded inline on the toolbar and is one click away. The trade-off is toolbar space versus speed; the mode changes presentation only and never deletes anything.

How do I create two buttons for the same tool with different settings?

Save two templates of that tool first. Draw the tool, open its properties, configure levels, colours and style, and save it as a named template; repeat with different settings and a different colour for the second. Then click + → Drawing Button From Template twice, selecting one template each time. You now have two buttons for the same base tool — for example a measured-move Fibonacci retracement and a 100/200% Wolfe-range expansion — distinguished by colour.

How do I save a drawing template in SabrTrader?

Place the drawing on a chart, then double-click it or right-click it and open properties/parameters. Adjust style, colours, visible levels and ratios, labels, extension behaviour and any tool-specific parameters. Save the configuration as a named template from that dialog. The template then appears under Apply Template in the properties dialog and under Drawing Button From Template in the toolbar's add menu.

What is a Drawing Button From Template?

It is a toolbar button bound to a saved drawing template rather than to a stock tool. Clicking it arms a drawing that is already styled and already parameterised, so no post-placement editing is needed. This is how you get one button for a long anchored VWAP and a separate button for a short anchored VWAP, each in its own colour.

How do I change the default colour or style of a drawing tool?

Draw the tool, open its properties dialog, set the colour, line width, style, label visibility and options such as extend-right, then save that configuration as the default template for the tool. Every subsequent drawing of that tool uses the saved settings. Setting colour on a toolbar button is done in the button creation dialog, not by restyling an already-placed drawing.

How do I delete a toolbar button or remove a whole category?

Right-click the button, choose delete and confirm the prompt. Deleting a button does not delete the template it was bound to, so the button can be recreated later from Drawing Button From Template. An entire category can also be removed from the toolbar if you never use it; this removes the shortcut only — the tools remain in the platform.

Can I switch ATM strategies with a single button on the chart?

Yes. Create an Action Button bound to a specific ATM strategy and give it a colour. Clicking it immediately sets the chart trading panel's active ATM to that strategy. A common setup is one button for a tight scalp bracket (for example 10-tick stop / 20-tick target) and one for a runner bracket (for example 200/400), so you can switch management style mid-session without scrolling a long dropdown.

Which indicators support action buttons?

Indicators that expose toggleable display elements. The footprint chart supports left cell, right cell, bar stats, log and summary-table toggles. Market Profile supports split profiles and merge profiles. Volume Profile supports show/hide of profile elements. Indicator action buttons only have an effect when that indicator is actually loaded on the chart.

Why does my anchored VWAP anchor to the edge of the screen?

The anchored VWAP tool places its anchor at a default location — typically the edge of the visible chart — when it is first dropped. You must drag the anchor handle onto the specific bar you want: the swing high for a short-side VWAP, the swing low for a long-side VWAP. If you leave the default anchor, the line still plots but it averages the wrong range of trades and carries no analytical meaning.

How do I hide the drawing toolbar and get it back?

The toolbar can be hidden to free chart width. When it is hidden, move the mouse pointer against the left edge of the chart and the bar pops out temporarily. Re-enabling the dock makes it permanently visible again. Most traders who rely on one-click presets leave it pinned open.

Does my toolbar layout persist across charts and restarts?

The toolbar layout is part of the chart configuration, so it persists when the chart and workspace are saved. Save the chart as a chart template if you want the same toolbar on newly created charts, and save the workspace so the layout survives a platform restart. Templates you create are stored separately from buttons, so a deleted button can always be rebuilt from its template.

Can I sort the toolbar buttons alphabetically?

Yes. The toolbar offers an alphabetical sort option. This is useful once the bar holds more than about ten buttons, because a deterministic order makes muscle memory reliable. Alternatively, drag buttons manually to group related items — lines together, Fibonacci presets together, volume tools together, action buttons last.

Can an action button flatten all positions or open the journal?

Yes. Action buttons cover platform commands as well as drawing and indicator actions. Flatten all positions closes every open position and cancels working orders immediately; open journal opens the trade journal window. Because flatten-all is destructive, give it a reserved colour and place it away from the drawing buttons so it cannot be clicked by accident.

What tools are included in the Fibonacci and Gann categories?

The Fibonacci category contains the retracement, extension/expansion, speed fan, time zones, arcs and Fibonacci channel tools. The Gann category contains the Gann square, Gann fan and Gann box. Each tool has its own properties dialog, so each can carry multiple saved templates and multiple toolbar buttons.

What is the golden zone and why do traders use a dedicated Fibonacci preset for it?

The golden zone is the 61.8%–78.6% retracement band of a swing (often narrowed to 61.8%–65%), where trend-continuation entries are commonly sought because it is the deepest pullback that still leaves the swing structure intact. A dedicated preset highlights exactly those levels in a distinct colour and hides the ratios you do not use, so the zone is readable at a glance on every swing without reconfiguring the tool.

What is the difference between a Fixed Range Volume Profile drawing and the Volume Profile indicator?

The Fixed Range Volume Profile is a drawing tool: you draw the start and end of the range yourself, and it computes volume at price over exactly that span. The Volume Profile indicator plots automatically on a fixed schedule — per session, per week, or as a composite — without manual drawing. Use the drawing for ad-hoc ranges such as a single move or an overnight balance, and the indicator for standing session and weekly references.

Why should long and short presets use different colours?

Because the drawing itself does not announce which preset produced it. If a long-anchored VWAP and a short-anchored VWAP are the same colour, you cannot tell which cohort of participants a line represents, and you may read support as resistance. Reserving one colour family per direction, consistently across anchored VWAP, position sizing and Fibonacci presets, removes that ambiguity.

Troubleshooting

The drawing toolbar is missing from the chart

The toolbar is hidden. Move the mouse pointer against the left edge of the chart — the bar pops out on contact. To keep it visible permanently, re-enable the toolbar dock in the chart's toolbar settings and then save the chart and workspace so the state persists.

A tool I starred is not visible on the toolbar

Check the one-click toggle. If it is hollow (off), starred tools are collapsed behind the star icon and you must click the star first. If it is filled (on) and the tool is still missing, open its category and confirm the star is actually set on that specific tool rather than on a similar entry.

My template does not appear under Drawing Button From Template

The template has not been saved. Place the drawing, open its properties/parameters dialog, configure it, and save it as a named template from that dialog. Only saved templates are listed. Confirm you are looking under the correct tool group in the submenu — anchored VWAP templates appear under Anchored VWAP, not under Lines.

An action button appears to do nothing when clicked

For indicator actions, the matching indicator must be present on the chart: footprint toggles require a footprint chart, split/merge requires a Market Profile. For trading actions, an active broker or simulator connection and a selected account are required, and the chart trading panel must be available. Verify the button's bound command by reopening its configuration dialog.

The button colour I chose is not showing on the drawing

Button colour and drawing colour are set in two different places. The button colour is set in the button creation dialog; the drawing's line and fill colours come from the bound template. Set the colour inside the template's properties dialog, re-save the template, and match the button colour to it so the two agree.

My toolbar layout was lost after restarting the platform

The layout was not persisted. Save the chart as a chart template and save the workspace after making toolbar changes. Templates themselves are stored independently, so even if the button layout is lost, the saved drawing templates remain and the buttons can be recreated quickly from Drawing Button From Template.

I deleted a button by accident

Nothing is lost. Deleting a button does not delete its template. Click + → Drawing Button From Template, select the same template, re-assign the colour, and re-star it if it was a favourite.

I removed a category and can no longer find a tool

Removing a category removes the toolbar shortcut, not the tool. Re-add the category from the toolbar configuration, or add a direct button for the specific tool with + → New Drawing Button. Prefer the second approach if you only need one tool from an otherwise unused category.

One-click mode has made the toolbar unusably long

Too many tools are starred. Open each category and unstar everything you do not use daily, keeping roughly five to ten favourites. Unstarred tools remain fully available from their category, and you can also sort the remaining buttons alphabetically or group them manually for faster scanning.

An anchored VWAP plots a line that does not match the pivot I intended

The anchor is still at its default position, typically the chart edge. Click the drawing to select it, drag the anchor handle onto the exact swing high or swing low bar, and confirm the line now begins at that bar. Zoom in before dragging so the anchor lands on the correct bar rather than an adjacent one.

Glossary

Action button

A toolbar button that executes a platform, indicator or trading command rather than placing a drawing — for example switching the active ATM strategy, toggling footprint cells, splitting market profiles, opening the journal or flattening all positions.

Anchored VWAP

A volume-weighted average price calculated from a user-chosen anchor bar rather than from the session open. Anchored from a swing high it approximates the average fill price of participants who entered short at that high; anchored from a swing low it approximates the average price of participants who entered long.

Andrews Pitchfork

A three-point median-line tool that projects a channel forward from a pivot and two subsequent swing points.

ATM strategy

An Advanced Trade Management template that automatically attaches a stop loss and profit target when an entry fills and manages those exits by rule, including break-even moves, trailing and scheduled flattening.

Bar statistics / summary table

Footprint readouts showing per-bar delta, volume and cumulative statistics, plus a session-level summary table.

Chart template

A saved combination of bar type, interval, lookback, indicators, drawing toolbar layout and visual settings for a chart, which can be reapplied to any instrument or set as the default for new charts.

Confluence

The alignment of two or more independent levels at the same price, such as an anchored VWAP meeting a 50% retracement. Confluent levels are higher-quality references because different measurement methods agree.

Delta

The net difference between volume traded at the ask (buy aggressors) and volume traded at the bid (sell aggressors) within a bar, range or session. Positive delta means aggressive buyers dominated.

Drawing Button From Template

A toolbar button bound to a saved drawing template, so a single click arms a drawing that is already styled and parameterised.

Drawing template

A saved set of style and parameter values for one drawing tool, covering colours, line widths, visible levels and ratios, labels, extension behaviour and tool-specific options. Templates can be applied to an existing drawing or bound to a toolbar button.

Drawing toolbar

The configurable vertical dock on the left edge of a SabrTrader chart that holds drawing tool categories, starred favourites, template-bound drawing buttons and action buttons.

Elliott Wave labelling

Annotation tools for marking impulsive (1-5) and corrective (A-B-C) wave counts on a chart at various degrees.

Favourites (star) system

SabrTrader's mechanism for promoting frequently used drawing tools out of their toolbar categories into a single star-icon set for one- or two-click access. Starring is applied per tool, not per category.

Fib speed fan

Angled Fibonacci lines projected from a pivot so that support and resistance depend on both price and elapsed time rather than price alone.

Fibonacci channel

A parallel-channel variant of Fibonacci levels projected along a trend, so the ratio lines slope with the move instead of sitting flat.

Fibonacci extension

Levels plotted beyond 100% of a swing — typically 127.2%, 161.8% and 200% — used as profit targets.

Fibonacci retracement

Horizontal levels drawn between a swing low and a swing high at fixed ratios — commonly 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8% and 78.6% — used to locate potential pullback support or resistance.

Fixed Range Volume Profile

A volume profile calculated over a user-drawn start and end range rather than over a fixed session, used for ad-hoc analysis of a specific move or balance area.

Flatten all positions

A platform command that immediately closes every open position and cancels all working orders. It is destructive and should be bound to an isolated, distinctly coloured action button.

Footprint chart

A chart type whose candles display bid and ask traded volume at each price inside the bar. Cells, per-bar statistics and a session summary table can be toggled on and off.

Gann square / Gann tools

Geometric price-and-time tools based on W.D. Gann's angles and squaring methods, including the Gann square, Gann fan and Gann box.

Golden zone

The 61.8%–78.6% retracement band (often narrowed to 61.8%–65%) where trend-continuation entries are commonly sought because it is the deepest pullback that still leaves the prior swing structure intact.

Harmonic chart pattern

A Fibonacci-ratio constrained five-point price structure — such as Gartley, Bat or Butterfly — used to locate potential reversal zones.

High Volume Node (HVN)

A price shelf carrying heavy traded volume, where price tends to slow, stall or rotate.

Horizontal channel

Two parallel horizontal lines marking the top and bottom of a balance or range area.

Low Volume Node (LVN)

A thin price area with little traded volume, through which price tends to move quickly.

Market Profile (TPO)

A time-price-opportunity distribution showing how long price spent at each level. Individual day profiles can be split apart or merged into a composite.

Measured move

A projection technique that expects a second leg roughly equal in size to the first leg, measured from the end of the intervening consolidation.

One-click mode

A toolbar display state in which the one-click toggle is filled and all starred tools are expanded inline on the toolbar, making each favourite reachable in a single click. When the toggle is hollow, favourites stay collapsed behind the star icon and require two clicks.

Point of Control (POC)

The price level with the highest traded volume in a profile. It commonly acts as a magnet and as a target on retests.

Position sizing tool

A drawing that converts an entry price, a stop price and a target price into contract size, monetary risk and reward-to-risk ratio. Long and short variants exist.

Regression channel

A statistical channel built from a linear regression of price over a selected range, with standard-deviation bands drawn as upper and lower boundaries.

Scalp vs runner management

Switching between a tight-target bracket for quick scalps and a wider-target bracket that allows part of a position to trend. On the toolbar this is reduced to one action button per bracket.

Support and resistance

Price areas where prior trade has produced repeated reactions. Resistance that is accepted through often behaves as support on a subsequent retest, and vice versa.

Swing high / swing low

Local turning points in price, used as the anchors for retracements, channels, pitchforks and anchored VWAPs.

Trendline

A straight line connecting successive swing highs or swing lows, used to map the direction and slope of price movement.

Value Area

The price range containing roughly 70% of a profile's traded volume. Its upper edge (value area high) and lower edge (value area low) frequently act as resistance and support.

Volume Profile

A histogram of traded volume at each price over a selected period, showing where business was done rather than only where price travelled.

Weekly profile / composite profile

A volume or TPO profile aggregating multiple sessions to reveal longer-term acceptance and reference levels such as prior weekly POCs.

Wolfe range / Fibonacci expansion

A projection of 100% to 200% of a prior range, drawn beyond the original swing to set targets.

Related Documentation