Progressive lens lab
Free-form progressive lenses, digitally surfaced
Our progressives use a free-form design engineered in Germany. We calculate each lens for one prescription and cut it on Satisloh digital surfacing equipment in our own lab, at one flat rate.
What free-form means
A lens calculated for one prescription
A free-form progressive has its surface calculated point by point for one patient's prescription, then cut on a digital generator. A conventional progressive has its progressive surface moulded on the front of a blank at the factory, and the lab only adds the sphere and cylinder on the back.
The difference shows at the sides of the lens. A conventional design is worked out for a prescription near the middle of its range, so a patient near the edge of that range gets extra blur looking through the lens at an angle. A free-form surface is calculated for the real prescription and can reduce that error. The full comparison is in free-form vs conventional progressives.
Free-form describes the surface. Digital surfacing is how it is made, on a computer-controlled generator that cuts the curve the calculation asks for instead of the nearest stock tool. Ours works to 0.01 of a diopter, against 0.15 on traditional equipment.
At ITFIT
What comes with our progressives
German free-form design
Our progressives use a digital free-form design engineered in Germany. We manufacture our own designs and do not carry outside brands.
0.01 of a diopter
Digital surfacing holds tolerance to 0.01 of a diopter, against 0.15 of a diopter on traditional surfacing equipment.
Shipped in 2-3 business days
Progressives leave the lab in 2-3 business days. Rush jobs go out in 1-2 days.
A 0.48% return rate
Our average return rate is 0.48%, fewer than 5 lenses back for every 1,000 we make.
One flat rate
No charge for prism, cylinder or specialty surfacing. We don't nickel-and-dime.
Everything in-house
Surfacing, coating and edging happen in our own building, on about 1,000 jobs a day. Nothing goes out to a second lab.
Materials
Four materials, cut to your order
We cut progressives in CR-39, polycarbonate, 1.57 mid-index and 1.67 high-index, picked against the prescription and the frame.
Add anti-reflective, blue light or scratch-resistant coatings, tints, mirrors or polarized finishes on the same job, and the lens moves through the lab in one line.
On the order
What a free-form order needs
A free-form lens is only as exact as the numbers behind it. Beyond the prescription, send three things: monocular PDs, fitting heights taken in the adjusted frame, and a frame tracing or the A, B, ED and DBL.
For a wrapped sport frame, a strong tilt or a frame far from the eye, add pantoscopic tilt, wrap and vertex distance. A design that uses them changes the powers on the lens so the eye gets the prescription as written, and the lens then reads those compensated values on the lensometer. The lensometer guide for free-form lenses shows where to read them.
When a patient still can't adapt, we redo non-adapts. What to check in your own chair first is in progressive lens non-adaptation.
Questions
About our free-form progressives
What is a free-form progressive lens?
A progressive whose surface is calculated for one patient's prescription and cut on a digital generator, instead of moulded on a blank at the factory.
Is free-form the same as digital surfacing?
Free-form describes a lens surface calculated point by point for one prescription. Digital surfacing is how it is made, on a computer-controlled generator. A free-form progressive needs digital surfacing.
How precise is ITFIT's digital surfacing?
It works to 0.01 of a diopter, against 0.15 on traditional equipment.
Which progressive design do you use?
A digital free-form design engineered in Germany. We manufacture our own designs and do not carry outside brands.
How long does a free-form progressive take?
Progressives ship in 2-3 business days. Delivery time on top of that depends on the shipping method you pick.
Do you charge extra for prism or cylinder?
No. We charge one flat rate, with no charge for prism, cylinder or specialty surfacing.
Send us your next progressive
Open an account and your first two jobs are free. Send the monocular PDs, fitting heights and a tracing with the first one.