Trying to figure out what all the weird data is on your glasses prescription, let alone having the confidence that you're getting it right when you enter it into your order is probably the scariest part for most people when they try to order glasses online for the first time!
But before we continue, don't forget - our 60 day 100% money back guarantee totally covers you for incorrect prescriptions - even if it's totally your fault! So relax it's not all that hard!
Do I need a prescription and where do I get it from?
Yes you do. Without having your prescription you will be unable to buy glasses. The place to get it from is your Optometrist. It should be less than two years old. If you have a prescription that's older than this, or no prescription at all, you will need to get your eyes re-tested.
Just make sure you ask for a copy of your prescription at the end of the process. It's your own personal information and you'll be almost certainly paying for the eye test so you won't have any difficulty obtaining it.
If you have already had an eye test but didn't get a copy of your prescription at the time, the easiest way to get a copy is just flick your Optometrist an email and request it. You shouldn't pay any extra to obtain a copy.
How to read your prescription
Quite understandably you may feel very unconfident about entering the right information into your order from your prescription. If you do, please contact us and we'll happily assist you. But it really is quite easy!
What can sometimes be confusing is that prescriptions can be written is several different formats. So we've provided three examples below of the most common formats to help you how to enter the necessary details into your order.
Example One.
Probably the most common layout. Really easy to read and understand. This example has no details for anything other than Sphere, Cylinder & Axis. This is a very typical single vision prescription. If your prescription has more details than this eg Add, Prism etc, then it's most likely we would not be able to provide glasses for you as we only offer single vision glasses. See further down this page for more on these additional prescription details.
Example Two.
This is a slightly more complex format but still very easy to understand. The Sphere and Cylinder measurements are very obvious but the Axis (90) has been written out to the side. Also the PD has been entered 'per eye' rather than as a single number so they need to be added together to be entered as '66'. 
Example Three.
This example shows a prescription that is formatted horizontally rather than vertically, and it's also handwritten which is not uncommon still. This example is also missing the PD measurement. For some reason the PD is sometimes not included on a prescription. If yours is not included, you will still need to get this but it's really easy to do yourself. Check out this separate article about how to measure your PD
