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At least a handful of people ask each week if we have no-line bifocals. Technically, the only way to make a true "no line" lens is to make the bottom power GRADUALLY progress to the the top power. And when there's a middle gradual power, it's no longer classified as a bifocal, it's a multi focal. If you are reading this page, you are probably already familiar with this unfortunate limitation of "no-lines".

The second question people ask is, "Can I get a multi focal with zero power on top?" Yes, you can. But chances are don't want a pair. The reality doesn't live up to the ideal. The TOP part of a pair of over the counter multi focals is about 50% of the bottom power, and that middle part gets progressively weaker from bottom to top. When we tried to sell zero top no line multi focals, we got thousands and thousands of dollars worth of returns. The change from bottom to top was too drastic. Customers couldn't "focus" through the area that went from to zero on top.

Another practical consideration is the task at hand. Many people wanted zero top no line readers to drive in. Ideally, they'd look through the top portion to see the road, and the bottom part to see the console. However, by default, these glasses fit so that one's eyes align with the middle of the lens. This is the "gradual" area and is not idea for driving and other distance tasks. If you are spending way too much time looking for zero top mutli focals, or no line bifocals on the internet, this is why. Almost all over the counter no-line multi focals are designed for office work, or multi tasking at home, such as scrolling on your phone while you watch TV. Ideally, there SHOULD be one pair of glasses that does EVERYTHING. But in reality, there are always pros and cons, depending on what you want your readers to do.

If you wear progressive eyeglasses, but you want to buy a separate pair of glasses dedicated to reading, how do you figure out your reading power?

A common mistake occurs when people add up the wrong numbers. Be careful not to add up your sphere to your sphere, or your "add" to your "add".

Keep in mind that your sphere may be a negative number. When this happens, utilize the usual rules of adding negative to positive numbers. In the example below, note that -.75 + +1.50 = +.75, so the reading power is +.75, and that is for both eyes, since both eyes in this rx are the same.

Optician Josh of My Eyeglass Club explains this all in the video below. Since reading glasses are our only business, we partner with My Eyeglass Club to fill the prescription needs for some of our customers.