In order for us to distribute your lens data with ZEMAX, we need to receive from you a folder containing the .zmx files for each lens you want to distribute. We will then compress these files into a single .ZMF file, which is then read by the Lens Catalog tool. The .ZMF (ZEMAX folder) file will normally be called {your_company_name}.zmf unless you ask for a different one.

Each lens file in the folder should have the name {partnumber}.zmx, where {partnumber} is your unique identifier for the lens. The partnumber must not include spaces: use underscores or hyphens if a space character is needed.

ZEMAX builds an index used by the Lens Catalog tool for users to quickly search  the catalog. All the data needed for this index is created when we compress the files into a .ZMF file. The data includes the effective focal length of the lens at the primary wavelength, and the entrance pupil diameter of the lens, as well as flags indicating the number of elements, and whether aspheric surfaces, GRIN surfaces and toroidal surfaces are included in the file. Any ZEMAX file can be included in a .ZMF.

Note that if your lenses use special glasses that are not currently distributed with ZEMAX, you must provide the dispersion data for all glasses used in your own glass catalog. Similarly, if you include thin-film coatings along with your lens design, you should also supply a single {my_company_coating}.dat file that includes all the coatings used. Note that ZEMAX supports an encrypted coating file format if you wish not to disclose coating design details.