Turn OHLC data into a candlestick chart.

Build and read an OHLC candlestick chart

A candlestick chart shows four prices for every ordered period: open, high, low, and close. The body spans the open and close, while the wick reaches the full high-to-low range. This tool validates those relationships before drawing, so an impossible candle cannot quietly enter the chart or its export.

Prepare date and OHLC columns

Use one row per trading period and provide separate columns for the date or label, open, high, low, and close. Volume is optional. Import CSV, TSV, TXT, JSON, XLSX, or XLS data, or paste a table directly. The mapping window detects common financial column names and lets you correct every assignment before applying the file.

Prices must be finite plain numbers. For each row, the high must be at least as large as both the open and close, and the low must be no greater than either. Low cannot exceed high, and volume—when supplied—must be non-negative. A failed import leaves the existing chart unchanged and identifies the first invalid selected row.

Interpret candle bodies and wicks

A rising candle closes at or above its opening price; a falling candle closes below it. A long body indicates a large open-to-close move, while a short body shows little net movement. Long upper or lower wicks reveal prices that were reached during the period but not maintained at the close.

Use color and width carefully

Choose rising and falling colors that remain distinct on the selected background. Solid candles emphasize direction; hollow rising candles offer a conventional alternative. Body width changes the balance between dense time series and individual-candle detail without changing the underlying dates or price scale.

Explore a long price series

Zoom with the buttons or mouse wheel, then pan left and right through the current window. Tooltips report exact OHLC and volume values for the nearest candle. The chart recalculates its visible price range as the window changes, helping close inspection without modifying the source rows.

Understand the volume panel

When volume is available, the lower panel scales bars relative to the largest visible value and colors them by candle direction. Volume can provide context for price movement, but it does not prove why a move occurred. Hide the panel when the dataset has no meaningful or consistently measured volume.

Avoid analytical overreach

Candlesticks summarize recorded prices; they do not predict future movement or explain market causes. Check the instrument, timezone, trading calendar, adjustment method, and data vendor before comparing datasets. Corporate actions and missing sessions can create visual discontinuities that require context outside the chart.

Export a checked chart

Download PNG or SVG output with preset or custom dimensions, render scaling, and an optional transparent background. Exports use the current zoomed window. Review axis labels, candle colors, legend, volume bars, and date density in the preview before placing the graphic in a report or presentation.

Practical example: inspect one trading week

For daily observations, each candle summarizes the opening price, highest trade, lowest trade, and closing price for one session. A long upper wick shows that trading reached above both the open and close before retreating; a long lower wick shows the opposite path. Consecutive candles can describe how price evolved, but the chart alone cannot identify news, liquidity conditions, or participant intent.

Validate market data before charting

Check that every high is at least as large as the open and close, every low is at most as small, and timestamps are in chronological order. Decide whether prices are adjusted for splits or distributions, whether overnight sessions are included, and whether volume comes from a comparable venue. Mixing adjusted and unadjusted records can create a discontinuity that looks like a market event.

Candles versus OHLC bars

Candlesticks emphasize the open-to-close body, while an OHLC bar chart gives the high-low range more visual prominence. Both encode the same four price fields. Choose the form your audience can read reliably, and include the instrument, interval, currency, timezone, and source period whenever the image leaves its original context.