HOW-TO: Read Order Flow with the Footprint Master Pane [ZynAlgoUS Tech 100 IndexPEPPERSTONE:NAS100ZynAlgoThe Footprint Master Pane is a free order-flow tool that breaks each candle down into its lower-timeframe activity, so you can see where volume actually traded inside the bar and which side — buyers or sellers — was more aggressive at each price level. This is a short guide on how to set it up and read it. How it works For every chart bar, the script pulls the lower-timeframe (intrabar) candles and classifies each one as buy-driven (it closed above its open) or sell-driven (it closed below its open), then stacks that volume onto a price grid. For each bar you get a column of price levels showing Bid | Ask volume, the dominant side colored, the highest-volume level (the POC) highlighted in gold, plus a Delta (Ask minus Bid) and Total volume footer. One honest note: the tool estimates aggression from the direction of the intrabar candles. It is a footprint-style approximation, not exchange bid/ask tick data. Read it as the balance of pressure, always together with price action. Best chart setup Use standard Japanese time candles. Do not use Renko, Range, Heikin Ashi, Kagi or Point and Figure — those are derived chart types with no real intrabar time mapping, so the volume and delta would be distorted or meaningless. Prefer instruments with real traded volume: index futures, crypto, stocks. On spot FX or metals you only have tick volume, so treat the numbers as relative. The intrabar timeframe should be roughly one fifth to one fifteenth of your chart timeframe. The default of 1 minute works well on 15m to 30m charts. Keep it at 1 minute rather than seconds — a seconds resolution needs a higher plan and loads very little history. Settings (defaults) Order Flow Engine: Intrabar Timeframe = 1; Stack Levels (height) = 15; Auto Detect Asset = on (it estimates a practical grid step per symbol); Manual Tick Size is only used when Auto is off. Pane Visuals: Recent Bars to Render = 10; separate colors for Ask, Bid and the POC; Text Size = Normal (raise to Large if the numbers are hard to read). How to read it POC (the gold level): the price with the most volume in that bar. It behaves like a magnet and a micro support/resistance. Watch how price reacts around a recent POC. Delta (footer): Ask minus Bid. Positive delta with rising price points to genuine buying; negative delta with falling price points to genuine selling. Delta divergence: the strongest read. If price makes a lower low but delta becomes less negative or turns positive, sellers may be exhausting — look for longs. If price makes a higher high but delta shrinks, buyers may be exhausting — look for shorts. Absorption: a level with very large volume that price cannot push through is acting like a wall. A clean break through that wall is meaningful. Breakout confirmation: a break of a level backed by a jump in Total volume and same-direction Delta is more trustworthy than one on thin volume. A simple workflow Get your directional bias from a higher timeframe or from market structure. This tool does not give you the overall trend. On an intraday timeframe such as 15m or 30m, wait for price to reach a key support/resistance or a POC. Read the footprint there: look for delta divergence or absorption that agrees with your bias. Enter on confirmation, place the stop beyond the absorption level or POC that held, and target the next POC or volume cluster. Keep in mind It approximates order flow from intrabar candles; it is not exchange bid/ask data, so use it as a confirmation filter rather than a standalone system. It renders only the most recent bars, so it is a live-reading tool, not a historical backtest. This is educational content, not financial advice. Always manage your risk. It is a free public script, so you can add it to any chart and follow along.