If you need to convert your eyeglass prescription to reading glasses, you may decide to skip this manual process and speak with your eye care professional. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. But having said that, it is always helpful to know how you can accurately complete this conversion process.
If you are an individual who experiences sustained eye issues, you may have developed some habits and workarounds to make life easier. You may place your eyeglasses in a certain place at home so that you know you won’t lose them when you go to sleep. You may even have a separate pair of eyeglasses that you can wear when you are playing tennis, golf or another one of your favorite sports. Whatever the case may be, you have likely developed a routine that keeps you seeing as clearly as possible.
Nevertheless, there may be situations where you need to abandon some of these manual workarounds in order to see more clearly. As just one example, you may be happy with your eyeglass prescription, but you are having more trouble reading. This can be true whether you are trying to read the day’s newspaper at your kitchen table or an important work document on your computer.
Yes, you can squint and try to power through your vision issues. But having said this, there may come a time when you need to convert your eyeglass prescription to reading glasses. While this isn’t necessarily a difficult task, it is not something that you can simply breeze through. It can be easy to trip up. Therefore, it is critical to recognize and understand the common steps in this process.
We are here to help. At Rx-Safety, we sell all different types of glasses—including prescription glasses. We have seen the conversion process many times, so we want to do our part to demystify this process.
Below you will find our guide to converting your eyeglass prescriptions to reading glasses. By following the steps and advice that we have presented below, you will be well on your way to completing this important task.
To convert to reading glasses, you only need two things. You will need your current eyeglass prescription and a calculator. From there, you will do some simple math to ensure that your conversion is accurate.
Let’s start with your current eyeglass prescription. Every eyeglass prescription contains several abbreviations and numbers. For instance, “OD†stands for oculus dexter (“right eye†in Latin) and “OS†stands for oculus sinister (“left eyeâ€). To successfully convert your eyeglass prescription to reading glasses, you will need several other metrics. You will need a distance prescription, sphere power, and an add. The distance prescription is self-explanatory. Sphere power is the main strength of your eyeglass prescription, and it is written in increments of 0.25. The add stands for the additional correction that is used for reading glasses.
Essentially, the formula for converting an eyeglass prescription to reading glasses is adding your sphere power to your add power. To illustrate this process, it is helpful to provide some examples.
For instance, let’s say that you have an eyeglass prescription that has a sphere power of -1.25, a cylinder of -1.00, an axis of 83, and an add of 1.50. Once again, the formula states that we should add our sphere power (-1.25) to our add power (1.50), resulting in plus 0.25. From here, if this were to become a single vision reader, the end result would be plus 0.25, minus 1.00, at 83 degrees.
As another example, if we had a sphere power of 2.00, a cylinder of -1.50, an axis of 130 degrees, and an add of 1.50. We would follow the same steps as above. Simply put, we would add the sphere power of 2.00 to the add of 1.50, resulting in plus 3.50. The final prescription reading for these reading glasses would be plus 3.50, minus 1.50, at 130. By this point, you can see that both the cylinder and axis are never going to change. The only thing that will change will be the sphere power because we are adding the added power to it. Simple enough, right?
This conversion formula can lead to some interesting scenarios. For instance, if you have a sphere power of -1.50 and an add of 1.50, you will end up with 0.00. You would be wearing a single vision reader of 0.00 and this will be included with the same cylinder and axis.
The situation becomes somewhat more complicated if your sphere power is not the same for both eyes. As just one example, let’s say that your right eye has a sphere power of -3.50 and your left eye has a sphere power of -2.75. The remaining parts of your prescription are the same for both eyes. For instance, let’s assume that your cylinder is -0.75, your axis is 140 degrees, and your add is 1.50. From there, you would follow the same formula as described above. Specifically, you would take your right eye sphere power of -3.50 and add it to your add (1.50), resulting in -2.00. For your left eye, you would take -2.75 and add it to 1.50, equalling -1.25. This would result in a right eye of -2.00, -0.75 at 140, and a left eye of -1.25, -0.75 at 140. It is as simple as that.
As you can see, the math itself isn’t that tricky. The one thing that could trip you up, however, is the addition of both positive and negative numbers. It is easy to mix your signs, which could result in reading glasses that are not properly converted for your eyesight. Because of this, it doesn’t hurt to have a calculator when you are doing this conversion. Take your time and don’t hesitate to check your math twice. If you put on your reading glasses and think that something is off, go back and see if you correctly made your conversion. While you will eventually get it right, you can avoid some frustration and wasted time by going slow and checking your math.
SPH:
-1.25
CYL:
-1.00
AXIS:
83
ADD:
1.50
SPH:
-1.25
+ ADD:
1.50
=
+0.25
By this point, we hope you have realized that it isn’t an extremely complicated process. Yes, it does require you to do some simple algebra. If you feel like you’re weak at math, you may be intimidated by this fact. Luckily, however, the algebra is extremely basic. Slowing down, being deliberate, and checking your work is an effective playbook here.
Therefore, we encourage you to try it out for yourself today. If it would make you feel more comfortable, feel free to do some hypothetical conversions first. Completing practice conversions before real-life conversions will make you more comfortable with the math and will give you the confidence to move forward. Once you are more confident, however, feel free to try the conversion on yourself. If you accurately complete the conversion, that’s great! If not, you will quickly notice, and you can course-correct as necessary.
We wish you the best of luck!
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Would like to order reading glasses with blue light protection. My last RX was:
OD +150; CYL -075; AXIS 180; ADD +275
OS +125; CYL -050; AXIS 010: ADD +275
PD 64
Based on above numbers, please advise as to what strength blue light reading glasses would be most suitable. Thank you so much!
OD (Right Eye): +4.25 SPH, -0.75 CYL, 180 AXIS
OS (Left Eye): +4.00 SPH, -0.50 CYL, 010 AXIS
This is your reading Prescription
One other thing that changes for reading glasses is the Pupillary Distance (PD). As you read your pupils will come more close together. My optician used 5 mm for this, so the PD between two eyes is lowered with 5 (e.g. from 65 to 60). For me it is unclear when you order reading glasses with the standard eyeglass prescription and add +1.5 to each eye for reading whether the PD is automatically lowered as well. Can you clarify this for me?
You’re absolutely right that pupillary distance (PD) changes when switching from distance to reading glasses because your eyes naturally converge when focusing on near objects.
Does the PD Automatically Adjust for Reading Glasses?
Standard PD Measurement: When an optician measures your PD for distance glasses, it’s typically a binocular PD (e.g., 65 mm).
Near PD (for reading glasses): For reading glasses, the PD should be reduced, usually by 3-5 mm (exactly as your optician did).
Ordering Reading Glasses Online: Most online retailers and prescription ordering systems do not automatically reduce the PD when you add a reading power (+1.50, +2.00, etc.). They typically expect you to provide the correct PD yourself.
If You Use a Progressive or Bifocal Prescription: The lab automatically adjusts the lens placement for reading, but for single-vision reading glasses, you should manually enter the reduced PD.
How to Ensure Your Reading PD is Correct When Ordering Online
If your distance PD is 65 mm, your near PD (for reading) should be 60 mm (assuming a 5 mm reduction).
When ordering ready-made reading glasses with a generic ADD power (like +1.50), they usually have a fixed near PD (often around 60 mm), which may or may not match your actual needs.
If ordering custom prescription reading glasses, always specify your near PD to avoid discomfort or eye strain.
Key Takeaway
✅ If you’re ordering custom prescription reading glasses, manually enter your near PD (distance PD – 3 to 5 mm).
⌠If you’re ordering generic over-the-counter reading glasses, they likely have a standard near PD (~60 mm), which may or may not be ideal for you.
Would you like help finding an online retailer that allows you to input a near PD for reading glasses?
Hi, I’m attempting to order a pair of safety glasses with progressive lenses. I’m farsighted with no issues seeing at distance; my current prescription is for a pair of reading glasses (with no ADD). I want a pair with no correction for distance and the farsighted prescription for near vision. My prescription is below. To confirm, would I just move my current prescription to the ADD column?
OD (SPH +0.75) (CYL -0.25) (AXIS 010)
OS (SPH +0.50) (CYL -0.25) (AXIS 040)
Thank you!
You need to have an add to have a prescription to make progressive bifocals. This is either your distance or reading prescription
I have 2 separate prescriptions for reading and computer that I would like to convert to progressive, but I am not sure how to order them.
computer: RT: sph +1.25, cyl -.25, axis 110 add +1.25; LT: sp +1.25; cyl -.50; axis 140 add +1.25
Reading: RT: sph +.25; cyl -.50; axis 110 add +2.25; LT: sp +.25; cyl -1.0; axis 140 add +2.25
The prescription you have for reading looks to be your regular progressive bifocal prescription. If it was your reading prescription you wouldn’t have an add or the add would be lower than the computer script.