Uploading Your Glasses PrescriptionWith single-vision lenses, you can either: • Upload an image of your prescription on the product page/in your basket, or • Input the details on your prescription manually once you've added a product to your basket Even if you are confident that you can decipher the details on your prescription, we would always recommend uploading a photograph of your prescription to check it and lessen the possibility of errors. If you want to order varifocals, you will need to upload an image of your prescription on the product page BEFORE you add to the basket in order to ensure accuracy. Reading your PrescriptionWhilst all UK eyeglass prescriptions contain the same information, they sometimes are laid out differently depending on which opticians you went to. Below is a small guide on how to decipher your prescription should you want to input it manually: You can see in the image below that the prescription is split into 'Right' and 'Left', and then for both right and left there are 5 boxes for information. These are Sphere (Sph), Cylinder (Cyl), Axis, Prism and Base. For orders placed online, we are unable to cater to Prisms, so we can ignore those last two boxes for now and focus on the first three. You can also see there are two rows, distance and near. This is essentially your different prescriptions for distance vision (watching TV, driving, etc.) and reading (for close-up work) - Sometimes you might have values in one row and not the other, and sometimes both; but more on that later. 
The above image would be entered as a DISTANCE prescription (as there are only values in the distance row) | Right SPH: -1.25 Right CYL: +0.50 Right Axis: 20 | Left SPH: -1.50 Left CYL: No CYL Left Axis: No Axis | As you can see, where there is a line drawn across the Left Cyl and Axis, this is usually deciphered as not applicable; i.e. there is no cylinder or axis value for that particular eye. PLEASE NOTE: The + and the - symbols on your prescription are vitally important and these must be entered correctly, otherwise it may result in visual problems when you receive your glasses and Direct Specs cannot be held liable for these problems. Another prescription example is below, that's written out slightly different than that above: 
This prescription has both distance AND reading (near) values, so whether you want distance or reading glasses will dictate which values you need to enter into the boxes. If you want distance glasses, it will be entered like this: | Right SPH: -1.25 Right CYL: +0.50 Right Axis: 20 | Left SPH: -1.50 Left CYL: No CYL Left Axis: No Axis | But, if you want reading glasses, it will be entered like this: | Right SPH: +3.00 Right CYL: +0.50 Right Axis: 20 | Left SPH: +2.50 Left CYL: No CYL Left Axis: No Axis | My prescription has an Add/Reading Add/Near Add, what do I do? If your prescription has "Reading Add", Just "Add" or "Near Add" and a value such as +2.00 then please put this in the "Reading Add" box when inputting your prescription. There is a symbol on my prescription I don't recognise, what do I do? If there is an infinity (∞) symbol or the word PLANO written in one of the boxes on your prescription, this means a lens of zero power so please choose "0.00" in that lens. We know this can get a little complicated, so the best thing to do is upload an image of your prescription and leave us to decipher the details here! That way it reduces the risk of errors as we cannot be held liable where incorrect information has been supplied. WHAT IS 'PD'?Your PD or 'pupillary distance' is simply the distance between the centre of your pupils (the black central area of each eye). It plays a very important role when ordering glasses as if done incorrectly (especially with varifocals and higher prescriptions) it can affect your vision. 
Where possible this should be supplied by your optician but you could take this measurement yourself. The easiest way to do so is by having a friend stand facing you at a distance of about 18 inches and, as you look at their nose, have them measure the distance between your pupils. Since your eyes converge when looking at near objects, you will need to modify the measurement by adding 3mm to obtain the correct 'distance vision' PD. For example, if your friend measures your PD as 58mm you will need to specify a PD of 61mm (58 + 3) on any order for 'distance' specs or 58mm for reading glasses.
Your optician may have specified 'monocular PD's' for your right and left eye individually. Simply add the two together to obtain your overall PD. For example, with these monocular PD's, R 31mm and Left 32mm, you would specify 63mm on your order. Allergy adviceIf you have, or suspect you have, an allergy to metal or plastics used in the production of spectacle frames, we recommend taking professional advice in person and buying only non-allergenic frames. | 
