What it draws
Draws two parallel lines that contain price: a base trend line plus a parallel copy offset to the other side of the action, with an optional midline. It frames a trending or sideways market as a channel whose boundaries act as dynamic support and resistance.
How to draw it
- Pick Parallel Channel from the left toolbar (Channels group).
- Three points: click the start and end of the base line, then a third point to set the parallel line's distance. Drag the third handle to widen or narrow the channel.
How traders use it
- Buy near the lower boundary and take profit near the upper boundary in an up-sloping channel (trade with the slope, fade the extremes).
- Use the midline as a strength gauge: holding above it is strong, repeated failure at it warns the channel may break against you.
- A breakout beyond a channel boundary with momentum often travels roughly the channel's width — use that as an initial target.
- Place stops just outside the boundary that price should not revisit if the channel thesis is correct.
Settings reference
Double-click the drawing (or use its floating toolbar → gear) to open settings:
| Setting | Control | Possible values | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extend | multi-select | Extend left line | Extend right line (dropdown summarizes as Don't extend / Extend left line / Extend right line / Extend both) | Don't extend | Extends the line past its anchor points to the left and/or right edge of the chart. |
| Show Midline | checkbox | on/off | on | Draws the dashed midline halfway between the two channel lines. |
| Color | color | any color (theme color picker) | #05B878 | Color of the two channel boundary lines. |
| Line Width | select | 1px | 2px | 3px | 4px | 2px | Stroke thickness of the drawing’s lines and outlines. |
| Line Style | select | Solid | Dashed | Dotted | Solid | Dash pattern used for the drawing’s lines. |
| Fill Color | color | any color | #05B878 | Interior fill color of the shape/zone. |
| Fill Opacity | slider | 0–100 | 10 | Opacity of the interior fill (0 = invisible, 100 = solid). |
| Midline Color | color | any color | #787b86 | Color of the channel midline. |
| Midline Style | select | Solid | Dashed | Dotted | Dashed | Dash pattern of the channel midline. |
| Midline Width | number | 1–10 | 1 | Stroke width of the channel midline. |
| [Tab] Text — Text | checkbox + textarea | on/off, with a multiline text box for the label content | off (on when the drawing already carries text) | Enables an attached text label on the drawing; typing in the box auto-enables it and updates the label live. |
| [Tab] Text — Text Color | color | any color | same as the drawing’s line color | Color of the attached text label. |
| [Tab] Text — Font Size | select | 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 48, 64, 72 | 14 | Point size of the attached label text. |
| [Tab] Text — Bold | checkbox | on/off (B toggle button) | off | Renders the label in bold. |
| [Tab] Text — Italic | checkbox | on/off (I toggle button) | off | Renders the label in italics. |
| [Tab] Text — Word Wrap | checkbox | on/off | off | Wraps long label text onto multiple lines instead of one long line. |
| [Tab] Text — Text alignment (vertical) | select | Top | Middle | Bottom | Top | Vertical placement of the label relative to the drawing. |
| [Tab] Text — Text alignment (horizontal) | select | Left | Center | Right | Center | Horizontal placement of the label relative to the drawing. |
| [Tab] Coordinates | number + datetime | one row per anchor point: price (number, step 0.05) and local date/time | the drawing’s current anchor values | Edits anchor geometry numerically — changing a point’s price or time moves the drawing live on the chart. |
| [Tab] Visibility | checkbox + number range | interval buckets: Ticks; Seconds 1–59; Minutes 1–59; Hours 1–24; Days 1–366; Weeks 1–52; Months 1–12; Ranges (each bucket has an on/off checkbox, most also a from–to range) | visible on all intervals | Per-timeframe visibility rules — untick a bucket to hide the drawing on those chart resolutions, or narrow the from–to range within a bucket. |
Editing & managing
- Move / adjust: drag the drawing or any anchor handle; magnet mode snaps points to OHLC values.
- Clone / lock / hide / delete from the floating toolbar or right-click menu.
- Templates: save the current style from the settings dialog and reapply it to new drawings.
- Every action is undoable (⌘Z / Ctrl+Z).
Watch out for
- Price rarely respects perfect parallels for long — when touches start overshooting or falling short of a boundary, redraw the channel instead of trading the stale one.