Show a customer their lenses before they are cut
How thick a lens ends up is decided by the shape of the frame as much as by the prescription and the material — so it can only be answered one frame at a time. Every lens in this storefront is solved and rendered for the frame, the power and the index the shopper picks.
A working page, not a video — try the colours, the prescription and the lens options. Open it full screen.
Why it is worth rendering
Two problems, one asset: a customer who cannot picture their lenses either declines the upgrade or returns the order.
Thickness is a frame decision
The same −6.00 lens is a different object in a wide square frame than in a small round one — edge thickness follows the shape, the size and the depth of the cut. A generic diagram cannot tell a shopper what their lens will look like. A render of their frame can.
A thinner lens also distorts less
A higher index reaches the same correction with less curvature, so it cuts the ring distortion and the eye-size shift people notice in the mirror — not just the bulk at the edge. Both come out of the same physics, so both are in the renders.
The upsell argues for itself
Someone choosing between a standard lens and a premium one is being asked to pay for a difference they cannot see. Put the two in the frame they have chosen, at the power they actually wear, and the upgrade stops needing a sales pitch.
A returned lens is a total loss
Glazed prescription lenses are cut for one person and cannot be resold, so a return costs the full lens rather than a restocking fee. Surprise at the thickness is among the cheapest returns to prevent, and the only place to prevent it is before the order is placed.
What is shown here is a deliberately small subset — seven powers, three indices, one eye. Any power, any index, finer steps between them, cylinder and axis, coatings, tints and photochromics can be rendered the same way, for every frame in a catalogue. The renders convey the real relative difference between materials rather than a measurement: final thickness also depends on base curve, lens height and how the lens is fitted. Talk to us about your catalogue.