Online PD ruler

Most adults have a distance PD of 54 to 74 mm; children 43 to 58 mm. Calibrate once, hold the true-size ruler under your eyes, put 0 under one pupil and read the other, or use mirror mode alone. Your near PD for reading glasses is roughly 3 mm less.

Try

With a friend: hold the screen under your eyes, look at something far away, and have them put 0 under your right pupil and drag the red marker to your left pupil. Alone: turn on mirror mode, hold the phone flat against your brow, face a mirror, close one eye at a time.

63.0 mmdistance PD · near ≈ 60.0 mm · 2.48"

PD reading63.0 mm

Mirror mode

Nose centre31.5 mm

Full chart 27 rows

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Pupillary distance chart

27 rows

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Pupillary distance 50 to 76 mm with near PD, split dual PD and inches

47 mm	25.0 / 25.0	1.97"	In the children’s range, also seen in small adult faces
48 mm	25.5 / 25.5	2.01"	In the children’s range, also seen in small adult faces
49 mm	26.0 / 26.0	2.05"	In the children’s range, also seen in small adult faces
50 mm	26.5 / 26.5	2.09"	In the children’s range, also seen in small adult faces
51 mm	27.0 / 27.0	2.13"	In the usual adult range
52 mm	27.5 / 27.5	2.17"	In the usual adult range
53 mm	28.0 / 28.0	2.20"	In the usual adult range
54 mm	28.5 / 28.5	2.24"	In the usual adult range
55 mm	29.0 / 29.0	2.28"	In the usual adult range
56 mm	29.5 / 29.5	2.32"	In the usual adult range
57 mm	30.0 / 30.0	2.36"	In the usual adult range
58 mm	30.5 / 30.5	2.40"	In the usual adult range
59 mm	31.0 / 31.0	2.44"	In the usual adult range
60 mm	31.5 / 31.5	2.48"	In the usual adult range
61 mm	32.0 / 32.0	2.52"	In the usual adult range
62 mm	32.5 / 32.5	2.56"	In the usual adult range
63 mm	33.0 / 33.0	2.60"	In the usual adult range
64 mm	33.5 / 33.5	2.64"	In the usual adult range
65 mm	34.0 / 34.0	2.68"	In the usual adult range
66 mm	34.5 / 34.5	2.72"	In the usual adult range
67 mm	35.0 / 35.0	2.76"	In the usual adult range
68 mm	35.5 / 35.5	2.80"	In the usual adult range
69 mm	36.0 / 36.0	2.83"	In the usual adult range
70 mm	36.5 / 36.5	2.87"	In the usual adult range
71 mm	37.0 / 37.0	2.91"	In the usual adult range
72 mm	37.5 / 37.5	2.95"	Above the usual adult range: measure again
73 mm	38.0 / 38.0	2.99"	Above the usual adult range: measure again

05 / Field guide

No printer,
no scissors.

Your pupillary distance, the gap between the centres of your pupils, tells a lab where to put the optical centre of each lens. Most online glasses sites ask you to print a ruler at exactly 100% and cut it out. With a calibrated screen the ruler is already true size.

Measuring with a helper

Calibrate the screen first, then turn the phone sideways so the ruler has room. Sit at arm’s length from your helper and look at something about 3 metres away, past their shoulder, so your eyes are set for distance. They hold the top edge of the ruler under your eyes, line 0 up with the centre of your right pupil and drag the red marker to the centre of your left pupil.

Take three readings and keep the middle one. Adults usually measure 54 to 74 mm and children 43 to 58 mm; a reading outside those ranges is worth repeating.

Measuring alone in a mirror

Turn on mirror mode: the numbers are flipped so they read the right way round in the mirror. Hold the phone flat against your brow with the screen facing the mirror, stand about 20 cm away, close your left eye and line 0 up with your right pupil. Then close your right eye, open your left and read the number under your left pupil.

The zero mark is set in from the edge of the screen, because phone screens have rounded corners and bezels; do not try to butt the phone edge against anything.

Dual PD and near PD

A single PD is fine for most single-vision glasses. For progressives, or when your face is not symmetrical, labs want a dual PD: each pupil’s distance from the centre of the nose bridge. Ask your helper to put the nose-centre slider on the middle of your bridge; the sheet splits the reading into right and left.

For reading glasses, your eyes turn inward, so the near PD is smaller. A common rule is to subtract 3 mm (1.5 mm per eye for dual PD). It is a rule of thumb: an optician measures near PD at your actual reading distance.

Near PD ≈ distance PD − 3 mm · dual: right + left = single PD

Printable version

If you prefer paper, the printable sizers page has a PD ruler with a 100 mm check line. Print at 100% (actual size), then measure the check line with a real ruler before using it.

Questions

Answered plainly.

01What is a normal PD?+

Most adults measure 54 to 74 mm, with averages in the low 60s. Children usually measure 43 to 58 mm.

02How do I measure my PD at home without a ruler?+

Calibrate your screen with a coin or bank card, then use the on-screen ruler with a helper, or alone with mirror mode, which flips the numbers so they read correctly in a mirror.

03What is near PD?+

The pupil distance when your eyes turn in to read. It is usually about 3 mm less than your distance PD, so a 63 mm distance PD has a near PD of about 60 mm.

04What is the difference between single and dual PD?+

Single PD is pupil to pupil. Dual PD is each pupil to the centre of the nose, written like 31.5/32; the two add up to the single PD.

05How accurate is an online PD ruler?+

With a calibrated screen the ruler is true size; most of the error comes from where the reading is taken. Take three readings and use the middle one.

06Does a PD of 1 or 2 mm matter?+

For low prescriptions a millimetre or two rarely matters. For strong prescriptions and progressives, accuracy matters more; ask an optician to confirm.