Eye Charts

• Classic Eye Chart: Joel Schneider's 3-page Snellen Chart plus near vision testing card
  
  • in PDF
  • PostScript source code
• Modern Standard: ETDRS charts based on those provided on the National Eye Institute's charts page. The following charts have correctly-labelled lines from 40ft to 2ft suitable for printing on letter sized paper, and feature vector graphics for a sharper image (unlike the maximum 300dpi, not-to-scale charts provided by the N.E.I.).
  
  • Chart R
  • Chart 1
  • Chart 2
• Interactive Eye Chart: Alejandro Saksida's Flash-based Ultimate Random Snellen Chart generator, version 3.1 (updated January 12, 2006):
  
  • Read Instructions.
  • Generate a Random Snellen Chart on the web.
  • Download a ZIP Archive of the generator for off-line use.
• Vision Training Charts from Ray Gottlieb, O.D., Ph.D., with instructions.
  
  • Presbyopia Reduction Chart (PDF) -- helps you read fine print by training convergence. Part of the Read Without Glasses Method, courtesy of the Cambridge Institute for Better Vision
  • String Of Pearls (PDF) -- for improving 3D perception
• Alex Eulenberg's 1-page Snellen Chart (20/20)
  
  • in GIF format (browser-viewable, also printable at 72 dpi)
  • in Macintosh PICT format (hi-resolution, downloadable & printable)
  • in Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) format (compatible with, among other programs, WordPerfect for Windows.)
  • in PDF format.
• Vic Cinc's Letter rows & grid of random tumbling E's
  
  • in PDF format
  • in PostScript format
• Vic Cinc's Astigmatic mirror
• Egidio Rizzi's Vision Charts for Eyesight Improvement -- 10 charts for practicing fusion, convergence, divergence, with notes on each exercise's applicability for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.

Make your own eye chart!

For those enterprising souls out there who would like to laserprint or draw by hand their own eye chart, or if you would like to verify that your printout is of the correct proportions, here are the specs:

Distance (feet)  70   60    50    40    30    20    15    10    7    4
letter ht (mm)   31   27    22    18    13     9     7     4    3    2
letter ht (pt)   88   76    63    50    38    25    19    13    9    5
font size (pt)  152  130   108    87    65    43    33    21   15    9

With the University at Buffalo's Interactive Visual Acuity Chart, you can display the letters or symbols for a specified Snellen line on your computer monitor at exactly the right size (note: you must follow the instructions for calibration).

Interpreting the table

"Distance" in the above table refers to the furthest distance from the chart at which a normal eye is able to read the letter. On a Snellen eye chart, rows of letters of a given size have the corresponding distance number next to them. Thus the row of 18mm letters is marked "40". The font must be Courier (or Courier Bold) in order for the "font size" in points to correspond to the indicated letter height. Courier Bold is the PostScript font that most closely approximates the official Snellen letters.