Transposing Prescriptions

Depending on the equipment used by the doctor, a prescription may be in plus or minus cylinder form. For surfacing, the lab uses the minus form, meaning if a prescription is written in a plus cylinder form it must be transposed before processing.

Transpose a prescription written in plus cylinder form to minus cylinder form as follows:

1. Add the sphere and cylinder powers to determine the new sphere power.
2. Change the sign of the cylinder.
3. Change the axis by 90 degrees.

Example:

Transpose -3.00 +2.00 x 30

1. Add the sphere and cylinder powers to determine the new sphere power.

(-3.00) + (+2.00) = -1.00

2. Change the sign of the cylinder

-2.00

3. Change the axis by 90 degrees.

120

The transposed prescription is:
-1.00 -2.00 x 120

Related content:

1. Lens Form: Sphere, Cylinder, and Axis
2. Aspheric Lenses