How to post great looking charts

[tsptalk]

Great work! Thanks

 

[350zCommTech]

The key to getting your charts to look as sharp as the originals is to avoid scaling. Scaling happens when you are using JPEG(.jpg) pictures/charts or when the vertical(height) resolution of your chart is anything other than the intended resolution set in TSPTalk's software. It can also happen when the file size is larger than the file size limit.

There two key criterias for your charts to look great on TSPTalk.

You have to save your charts in .png format and the height resolution must be 639. For a chart that is 850X639. the 639 is the height. 850 for the width provides a nice wide chart but is not important.

Getting your charts to save in these formats will vary depending on your trading/charting plateform. I will explain how it's done in TOS(ThinkorSwim) and stockcharts.com.

For Stockcharts.com, it's very simple. The hard work has already been done.

There are numerous combinations of indicators that you can add to your chart, above and below, that will effect the height resolution. You can choose your own combinations but the end result must be 639. I'll give an expample of what I used.

First select the size of your chart.

The size tab is the width selection. It can be set to 620 or 700.

For 620, my indicators are RSI above and MACD below.
For 700, you must add a second indicator below. I have Full Stochastice for my second below. These combinations result in a height of 639. There are other combinations that could also result in a height of 639.

Then click update. Right click in the chart to save it. Save as type will be PNG Image.

Verify that the file is either 620x639 or 700x639 by putting the mouse over it or right click the file, click properties, and then summary.

you can now post your chart. Tom now knows why I needed 639 for the height.

Here is an example of 620:

View attachment 5790

Here is an example of 700:

View attachment 5791


For TOS, it's a little tricky.

You basically need to adjust the chart window size(if you have a separate window for your chart) or adjust the size of the TOS program, by trial and error until you it results in an image file with a height of 639. the width can be 850 or whatever you want.

To save a chart in TOS, click on the printer icon in the upper right corner. Then select take picture. In the take picture window, click save, leaving the file type as PNG.

Now check you file and see what the height resolution is. You just need to play around with the size of you chart window until you find the exact size that gives you a height of 639. That is it. There really is no other way in TOS. You can not use paint or PhotoShop to adjust the image down to 639, as it will introduce scaling and defeating the purpose. At this point, I have not found a way to have the TOS program default to a particular size when it opens. I'm sure there's a way.

For now, here's an example of a TOS chart at 850x639:

View attachment 5792