How to Read Your Eyeglass Prescription and Order Online

What the prescription sheet actually says

A prescription looks like a tax form the first time you see it. Rows, abbreviations, numbers with plus and minus signs. Relax. It is simpler than it looks, because every box answers one small question about one eye.

Start with the two rows. OD means right eye and OS means left eye. They are Latin abbreviations, and some doctors write R and L instead. You may also see OU, which means both eyes together. The two rows usually carry different numbers. That is normal. Your eyes are not twins.

Read the sheet left to right, one row at a time. Once you know the column names, the rest is a matter of copying numbers into the right boxes.

Sphere, cylinder and axis

Sphere, written SPH, is the main power of the lens. A minus sign usually points to nearsightedness, where distant things look soft. A plus sign usually points to farsightedness. The number is measured in diopters, and a bigger number means a stronger lens. A -4.00 is stronger than a -1.00. That is the whole idea.

Cylinder, written CYL, is a second power that corrects astigmatism. If that box is empty, or says DS or SPH, your prescription has no cylinder. When a number is there, it always comes with a partner.

The partner is the axis. It is an angle between 1 and 180 that tells the lab which direction to point the cylinder power. Cylinder and axis travel together. If you see one without the other, check the sheet again or ask your doctor, because something was left off.

Add, PD and the small print

ADD is extra magnifying power for close work like reading. It appears when you need help up close, and it is the number a progressive lens is built around. Often it is written once and applies to both eyes. If your sheet has no ADD, you are most likely ordering single vision lenses for one distance.

PD stands for pupillary distance. It is the space between your pupils, measured in millimeters. The lab uses it to center each lens in front of each eye. Some sheets give one number, such as 63. Others give two, one per eye, such as 31 and 32. Both formats work. If PD is missing from your sheet, ask your eye doctor to add it. It matters most with stronger prescriptions and with progressives.

You might also spot PRISM and BASE. Those are rare. If your sheet has them, write to us before you order and we will go through them together.

Ordering glasses online with your numbers

Once you can read the sheet, ordering takes a few minutes. Here is the order we suggest.

• Pick a frame from our eyeglasses collection and check the measurements against the size guide.
• Choose your lens: single vision, blue light filter, thin 1.67, photochromic or progressive.
• Enter SPH, CYL and AXIS for the right eye first, then the left.
• Add the ADD value if your sheet has one, then your PD.
• Compare every number with the sheet one last time before you pay.

The lens options sit on every product page, so you can see them before you commit. Our eyeglasses ship with lenses made to your prescription, which means the pair arrives ready to wear. If you like a classic shape, the Ray-Ban RX3928V is a good place to start. If you want something with a bit more presence, look at the Oakley Holbrook OX8156. You can also browse the full Ray-Ban range and compare shapes side by side.

Do not worry if the two eyes have different strengths. Most people do, and the form has a box for each eye so nothing gets mixed up. Take a clear photo of your sheet before you start, so you can zoom in on small print while you type. Handwriting can fool you too. A 6 and a 0 look alike in a quick scrawl.

Shipping to the United States is free over $70.

Most mistakes happen at the keyboard, not at the lab. The usual ones are swapping OD and OS, dropping a minus sign, and misplacing a decimal point. Read each field twice. If a number looks odd to you, stop and ask. Our FAQ page covers the common ordering questions, and a real person is behind every email we answer.

Not sure what a line on your sheet means? Email a Gold'Eyes optician or call us at +33 1 60 02 02 46. We would rather spend five minutes checking your numbers than have you wait on a pair that does not fit your sheet.