diff --git a/OCR/README.md b/OCR/README.md
index 301d2c0b..f594baf7 100644
--- a/OCR/README.md
+++ b/OCR/README.md
@@ -1,11 +1,43 @@
-## OCR
+# OCR Layer - ReportVision
+
+The **OCR Layer** in the ReportVision project processes document images, performs segmentation and optical character recognition (OCR), and computes accuracy metrics by comparing OCR outputs to ground truth data.
+
+---
+
+## Table of Contents
+1. [Introduction](#introduction)
+2. [Installation](#installation)
+3. [Running the Application](#running-the-application)
+4. [Development Tools](#development-tools)
+5. [Testing](#testing)
+6. [End-to-End Benchmarking](#end-to-end-benchmarking)
+7. [Dockerized Development](#dockerized-development)
+8. [Benchmarking](#end-to-end-benchmarking)
+9. [Project Architecture](#project-architecture)
+10. [API Endpoints](#api-endpoints)
+
+
+---
+
+## Introduction
+
+The OCR layer uses **Poetry** for dependency management and virtual environment setup. It provides:
+- An API for performing OCR operations.
+- Support for benchmarking OCR accuracy.
+- Configuration for different OCR models and segmentation templates.
 
 ### Installation
 
+### Prerequisites
+- Python 3.9 or later
+- [Poetry](https://python-poetry.org/) for dependency management
+- Docker (optional for containerized development)
+
 ```shell
 pipx install poetry
 ```
 
+### Running The Application
 Activate the virtual environment and install dependencies, all subsequent commands assume you are in the virtual env
 
 ```shell
@@ -13,32 +45,19 @@ poetry shell
 poetry install
 ```
 
-Run unit tests
-
-```shell
-poetry run pytest
-```
-
-Run benchmark tests
-
 ```shell
-cd tests
-poetry run pytest benchmark_test.py -v
+fastapi dev ocr/api.py
 ```
 
-poetry run pytest bench_test.py -v
+### Testing
 
-Run main, hoping to convert this to a cli at some point
+Run unit tests
 
-```shell
-poetry run main
+```shell 
+poetry run pytest
 ```
 
-To build the OCR service into an executable artifact
-
-```shell
-poetry run build
-```
+### Development Tools
 
 Adding new dependencies
 
@@ -82,12 +101,37 @@ To run the API in prod mode
 poetry run api
 ```
 
-### Test Data Sets
 
-You can also run the script `pytest run reportvision-dataset-1/medical_report_import.py` to pull in all relevant data.
+To build the OCR service into an executable artifact
+
+```shell
+poetry run build
+```
+
+### Dockerized Development
+
+It is also possible to run the project in a collection of docker containers. This is useful for development and testing purposes as it doesn't require any additional dependencies to be installed.
+
+To start the containers, run the following command:
+
+```shell
+docker compose -f dev-env.yaml up
+```
+
+This will start the following containers:
+
+- ocr: The OCR service container
+- frontend: The frontend container
+
+The frontend container will automatically reload when changes are made to the frontend. To access the frontend, navigate to http://localhost:5173 in your browser.
+
+The OCR service container will restart automatically when changes are made to the OCR code. To access the API, navigate to http://localhost:8000/ in your browser.
 
 
-### Run end-to-end benchmarking
+### End to End Benchmarking
+
+#### Overview
+End-to-end benchmarking evaluates OCR accuracy by:
 
 End-to-end benchmarking scripts can:
 
@@ -117,21 +161,76 @@ Run notes:
 * Benchmark takes one second per segment for OCR using the default `trocr` model. Please be patient or set a counter to limit the number of files processed.
 * Only one segment can be input at a time
 
-### Dockerized Development
 
-It is also possible to run the entire project in a collection of docker containers. This is useful for development and testing purposes as it doesn't require any additional dependencies to be installed on your local machine.
+### Test Data Sets
 
-To start the containers, run the following command:
+You can  run the script `pytest run reportvision-dataset-1/medical_report_import.py` to pull in all relevant data.
 
-```shell
-docker compose -f dev-env.yaml up
-```
 
-This will start the following containers:
+## Project Architecture
 
-- ocr: The OCR service container
-- frontend: The frontend container
+The OCR Layer is organized as follows:
 
-The frontend container will automatically reload when changes are made to the frontend code. To access the frontend, navigate to http://localhost:5173 in your browser.
+- **`ocr/`**:
+  - **`api.py`**: Defines the API for the OCR service.
+  - **`main.py`**: Entry point script to run the OCR service.
+  - **`segmenter.py`**: Handles image segmentation based on templates and labels.
+  - **`ocr_engine.py`**: OCR logic using the specified OCR models.
+  - **`metrics.py`**: Computes metrics (e.g., confidence, Levenshtein distance) by comparing OCR results with ground truth.
+  - **`config.py`**: Contains configuration files for paths, environment variables, and model settings.
 
-The OCR service container will restart automatically when changes are made to the OCR code. To access the API, navigate to http://localhost:8000/ in your browser.
+- **`tests/`**: Contains unit tests, integration tests, and benchmarking scripts.
+  - **`benchmark_test.py`**: Tests benchmarking logic for OCR and metrics.
+  - **`unit_test.py`**: Includes unit tests for individual components of the OCR service.
+  - **`benchmark_main.py`**: Main script for running end-to-end benchmarking, including segmentation, OCR, and metrics computation.
+
+- **`data/`**: location of segmentation templates, labels, ground truth, and test datasets (not included in the repository by default).
+
+- **`reportvision-dataset-1/`**: Example dataset folder for running benchmarks and tests.
+  - **`medical_report_import.py`**: Script to import and prepare medical reports for testing.
+
+- **`Dockerfile`**: Defines the container for running the OCR service in a Dockerized environment.
+
+- **`dev-env.yaml`**: Docker Compose file for setting up a development environment with containers for the OCR service and frontend.
+
+- **`pyproject.toml`**: Poetry configuration file specifying project dependencies and settings.
+
+- **`poetry.lock`**: Lock file generated by Poetry to ensure dependency consistency.
+
+## API Endpoints
+
+The OCR service exposes the following API endpoints:
+
+#### Health Check
+- **`GET /`**
+  - **Description**: Returns the status of the OCR service.
+  - **Response**: Status message indicating the service's health.
+
+#### Image Alignment
+- **`POST /image_alignment/`**
+  - **Description**: Aligns a source image with a segmentation template.
+  - **Request Body**:
+    - `source_image` (Base64-encoded string): The source image to align.
+    - `segmentation_template` (Base64-encoded string): The segmentation template to align with.
+  - **Response**:
+    - Base64-encoded string of the aligned image.
+
+#### Image File to Text
+- **`POST /image_file_to_text/`**
+  - **Description**: Processes an image file and a segmentation template to extract text based on labeled regions.
+  - **Request Body**:
+    - `source_image` (file): The uploaded source image file.
+    - `segmentation_template` (file): The uploaded segmentation template file.
+    - `labels` (JSON string): Defines labeled regions in the segmentation template.
+  - **Response**:
+    - JSON object containing text extracted from labeled regions.
+
+#### Image to Text
+- **`POST /image_to_text`**
+  - **Description**: Processes Base64-encoded images and extracts text from labeled regions.
+  - **Request Body**:
+    - `source_image` (Base64-encoded string): The source image.
+    - `segmentation_template` (Base64-encoded string): The segmentation template.
+    - `labels` (JSON string): Defines labeled regions in the segmentation template.
+  - **Response**:
+    - JSON object containing text extracted from labeled regions.
diff --git a/OCR/ocr/services/phdc_converter/builder.py b/OCR/ocr/services/phdc_converter/builder.py
index 8c8f50b6..c2aeba85 100644
--- a/OCR/ocr/services/phdc_converter/builder.py
+++ b/OCR/ocr/services/phdc_converter/builder.py
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ def _build_patient(self, patient: Patient) -> ET.Element:
                 )
                 patient_data.append(v)
             else:
-                logging.warning(f"Race code {patient.race_code} not found in " "the OMB classification.")
+                logging.warning(f"Race code {patient.race_code} not found in the OMB classification.")
 
         if patient.ethnic_group_code is not None:
             if patient.ethnic_group_code in ethnicity_code_and_mapping:
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ def _build_patient(self, patient: Patient) -> ET.Element:
                 )
                 patient_data.append(v)
             else:
-                logging.warning(f"Ethnic group code {patient.ethnic_group_code} not " "found in OMB classification.")
+                logging.warning(f"Ethnic group code {patient.ethnic_group_code} not found in OMB classification.")
 
         return patient_data
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a3cae32a..f39d2bc8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,8 +19,9 @@
 
 ## Overview
 
-Describe the purpose of your project. Add additional sections as necessary to help collaborators and potential collaborators understand and use your project.
-  
+Please see the User Guide to get a overview of this project.
+
+
 ## Public Domain Standard Notice
 This repository constitutes a work of the United States Government and is not
 subject to domestic copyright protection under 17 USC § 105. This repository is in
diff --git a/arcdiagram.png b/arcdiagram.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..11a5d9a7
Binary files /dev/null and b/arcdiagram.png differ
diff --git a/backend/README.md b/backend/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e3f4f68d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+# Backend Middleware - Spring Boot Application
+
+This document provides a guide for the **Backend Middleware** of the ReportVision project. This middleware bridges the **frontend app** with the **OCR backend** 
+
+---
+
+## Table of Contents
+1. [Introduction](#introduction)
+2. [Installation](#installation)
+3. [Testing](#testing)
+4. [Project Architecture](#project-architecture)
+5. [Key Features](#key-features)
+6. [API Endpoints](#api-endpoints)
+7. [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)
+
+
+## Introduction
+
+The backend of ReportVision is a **Spring Boot** application designed to:
+- Serve as middleware connecting the frontend with OCR.
+- Manage storage of template in the DB
+- Act as a middle layer to pass data for OCR extraction
+
+
+### Installation
+
+## To Run the Project please ensure you have docker set up
+1. Clone the repository:
+   ```bash
+   git clone https://github.com/CDCgov/ReportVision.git
+   cd ReportVision/backend
+2. Run the app
+Make sure you are in root
+
+```shell
+docker-compose -f backend.yaml up --build
+```
+
+3. Verify the app is running by visiting http://localhost:8080/api/health
+ 
+# Testing
+
+You can run gradle tests by bash into container
+
+```shell
+docker ps
+```
+Get the container id
+
+```shell
+docker exec -it <CONTAINER_ID> /bin/bash
+```
+
+```shell
+./gradlew test
+```
+
+## Project Architecture
+
+The backend is organized into the following directories and files:
+
+- **`src/main/java/gov/cdc/reportvision/`**:
+  - **`controllers/`**: handle API requests from the frontend.
+  - **`services/`**: service layer for managing templates, data extraction, and interactions with the OCR backend.
+  - **`models/`**: Data models representing application entities
+  - **`repositories/`**: Interfaces for database operations, 
+  - **`config/`**: Configuration files for security, database connections, and CORS policies.
+  - **`utils/`**: Utility classes for  validation, logging, and file manipulation.
+- **`src/test/`**: Includes unit and integration tests for the backend.
+- **`Dockerfile`**: Docker configuration file for containerizing the application.
+
+- **`README.md`**: Documentation for the backend application. 
+
+
+## Key Features
+
+#### Template Management
+- **Upload, retrieve, and delete templates**:
+  - Allows users to upload new templates for document segmentation.
+  - Retrieve a list of all saved templates.
+  - Delete templates by their unique ID.
+
+#### Data Extraction
+- **Document Processing**:
+  - Connects to the OCR backend to process documents using predefined templates.
+  - Extracts data based on segmented areas defined in the templates.
+  - Returns structured extracted data.
+
+#### Validation and Error Handling
+- **Data Integrity Checks**:
+  - Validates user inputs and template configurations.
+  - Provides error messages for invalid requests or processing failures.
+
+#### Secure Integration
+- **Authentication**:
+  - Implements JWT based authentication.
+  - Configurable CORS policies to control frontend and third-party access.
+
+
+## API Endpoints
+
+The backend middleware exposes the following RESTful API endpoints:
+
+#### Health Check
+- **`GET /api/health`**
+  - **Description**: Returns the status of the backend server.
+  - **Response**: Status message indicating the server's health.
+
+#### Template Management
+- **`POST /api/templates`**
+  - **Description**: Upload a new template for document segmentation.
+  - **Request Body**: JSON containing template details.
+  - **Response**: Confirmation of the uploaded template.
+
+- **`GET /api/templates`**
+  - **Description**: Retrieve a list of all available templates.
+  - **Response**: JSON array of template metadata.
+
+- **`DELETE /api/templates/{id}`**
+  - **Description**: Delete a specific template by its unique ID.
+  - **Response**: Confirmation of deletion.
+
+#### Data Extraction
+- **`POST /api/extract`**
+  - **Description**: Process a document using a selected template and return extracted data from OCR.
+  - **Request Body**: JSON containing the document and selected template ID.
+  - **Response**: JSON object with extracted data.
+
+#### Configuration Management
+- **`GET /api/config`**
+  - **Description**: Retrieve the current configuration settings of the application.
+  - **Response**: JSON object with configuration details.
+
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### Common Issues
+
+#### Database Connection Fails
+- **Cause**: The backend is unable to connect to the database.
+- **Solution**:
+  - Ensure the database server is running.
+  - Verify that the `DB_URL`, `DB_USERNAME`, and `DB_PASSWORD` environment variables are correctly configured.
+
+#### CORS Errors
+- **Cause**: Frontend requests are being blocked due to Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) policies.
+- **Solution**:
+  - Update the `CorsConfig` class in the `config/` directory.
+  - Add the necessary origins to the allowed list.
+
+#### OCR Service Not Responding
+- **Cause**: The backend is unable to communicate with the OCR service.
+- **Solution**:
+  - Verify that the `OCR_SERVICE_URL` is correctly set
diff --git a/frontend/README.md b/frontend/README.md
index e3a8a973..0f7e70c3 100644
--- a/frontend/README.md
+++ b/frontend/README.md
@@ -1,20 +1,57 @@
 # Frontend React App
 
-to run unit tests via Vitest
+
+Welcome to the **Frontend React App** for the ReportVision project. This guide provides instructions to help you get started with the application and run tests + linting.
+
+
+
+## Table of Contents
+1. [Introduction](#introduction)
+2. [Setup and Installation](#setup-and-installation)
+3. [Testing](#testing)
+4. [Frontend Architecture](#project-architecture)
+5. [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)
+
+
+
+## Introduction
+
+This frontend application is built using **React**, **TypeScript**, and **Vite**. It includes configurations for ESLint and end-to-end (E2E) testing using Playwright.
+
+---
+
+## Setup and Installation
+
+### Prerequisites
+Make sure you have the following installed on your machine:
+- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) (version 16 or higher recommended)
+- [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) or [yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/)
+
+### Installation and Run Steps
+1. Clone the repository:
+   ```shell
+   git clone https://github.com/CDCgov/ReportVision.git
+   cd ReportVision/frontend
+2. Install Dependencies: 
 
 ```shell
-npm run test
+npm install 
 ```
 
-to the the app in dev mode
+3. Start the app in dev mode: 
 
 ```shell
 npm run dev
 ```
 
-# E2E common commands
+4. Run tests to verify installation
+
+```shell
+npm run tests
+```
+
+### Testing
 
-Inside that directory, you can run several commands:
 
 Runs the end-to-end tests.
 
@@ -28,7 +65,7 @@ Starts the interactive UI mode.
 npx playwright test --ui
 ```
 
-Runs the tests only on Desktop Chrome.
+Runs the tests only on Chrome.
 
 ```shell
 npx playwright test --project=chromium
@@ -52,15 +89,39 @@ Auto generate tests with Codegen.
 npx playwright codegen
 ```
 
-# React + TypeScript + Vite
-
-This template provides a minimal setup to get React working in Vite with HMR and some ESLint rules.
+#### Fast Refresh
 
-Currently, two official plugins are available:
+Currently, two plugins are available:
 
 - [@vitejs/plugin-react](https://github.com/vitejs/vite-plugin-react/blob/main/packages/plugin-react/README.md) uses [Babel](https://babeljs.io/) for Fast Refresh
 - [@vitejs/plugin-react-swc](https://github.com/vitejs/vite-plugin-react-swc) uses [SWC](https://swc.rs/) for Fast Refresh
 
+
+# Troubleshooting
+
+### Common Issues
+1. Installation Errors: Ensure all prerequisites are installed.
+2. Development Server Not Starting: Check for port conflicts or missing dependencies. 
+3. Tests Failing: Verify Playwright setup and ensure browsers are installed:
+
+# Project Architecture
+
+### Description of Key Directories and Files in the frontend:
+- **`public/`**: Holds public static files like images, logos, and `index.html`. These files are directly served by the development and production servers.
+- **`src/`**: Contains the application code, including React components, pages, styles, and utilities.
+  - **`components/`**: Houses UI components.
+  - **`pages/`**: Organizes page-level components corresponding to application routes.
+  - **`styles/`**: Includes global and component-specific styles.
+  - **`utils/`**: Contains helper functions used across the application.
+  - **`App.tsx`**: The main application component where routes and global providers are defined.
+  - **`main.tsx`**: The entry point that initializes the React app and mounts it to the DOM.
+- **`tests/`**: Includes test files for unit testing and end-to-end testing.
+- **`package.json`**: Lists project dependencies and npm scripts for building, running, and testing the application.
+- **`vite.config.ts`**: Configuration file for Vite, the build tool used for development and production builds.
+- **`tsconfig.json`**: TypeScript configuration, defining compiler options and project structure.
+
+
+
 ## Expanding the ESLint configuration
 
 If you are developing a production application, we recommend updating the configuration to enable type aware lint rules:
diff --git a/user_guide.md b/user_guide.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..86e88be4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/user_guide.md
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+
+### Overview
+
+ReportVision is a tool that automates the reading and extracting of labs from PDF's
+
+### Steps
+
+1. Annotate Template for a Lab Report
+2. Extract Data based on selected annotations
+3. Conversion of Extracted Data to PDF's 
+
+Please see "how to" instructions in order to understand features of the Application in more detail. 
+
+### Getting Started
+
+#### Prerequisites
+
+1. [Python 3.8](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
+2. [Node 23.1](https://nodejs.org/en/download)
+3. [Tesseract 5.5](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/tesseract) (brew install tesseract)
+4. [Java21](https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/)
+5. [PostgreSQL](https://www.postgresql.org/)
+6. [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) (required for DB and middleware set up) 
+
+### Installation and Development Guides
+
+1. For [Frontend](./frontend/README.md)
+2. For [Middleware ](./backend/README.md)
+3. For OCR [OCR README](./OCR/README.md).
+
+### High Level Architecture
+
+![](arcdiagram.png)
+
+The **ReportVision** application is composed of the following core components:
+
+## Components
+
+### 1. **React-Based Single Page Application (SPA)**
+- **Purpose**: Serves as the user interface for the application.
+
+### 2. **ReportVision Middleware**
+- **Purpose**: Acts as middleware to handle communication between the UI, OCR API, and data storage.
+
+### 3. **OCR API**
+- **Purpose**: Performs Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on provided input.
+
+### 4. **Data Storage (PostgreSQL)**
+- **Purpose**: Stores saved templates and extracted data.
+
+
+## Infrastructure and Cloud Components
+
+### Hosting
+- The application is hosted in **Azure**
+
+### Infrastructure Guide
+- For detailed information on how the application is deployed and managed in Azure, refer to our [Infrastructure Guide](.github/README.md).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+