diff --git a/Framework/Algorithms/src/CalculateSlits.cpp b/Framework/Algorithms/src/CalculateSlits.cpp
index daff0e7cdcc9df080d85f0257a2591615ee01705..e8905f9ca467aa9c4478ea566aa3b79598d9d604 100644
--- a/Framework/Algorithms/src/CalculateSlits.cpp
+++ b/Framework/Algorithms/src/CalculateSlits.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ const std::string CalculateSlits::category() const {
 
 /// Algorithm's summary for use in the GUI and help. @see Algorithm::summary
 const std::string CalculateSlits::summary() const {
-  return "Calculates appropriate slit widths for reflectometry instruments.";
+  return "Calculates appropriate slit widths for reflectometry instruments "
+         "based on the instrument setup and desired resolution and footprint of the experiment.";
 }
 
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -46,16 +47,19 @@ const std::string CalculateSlits::summary() const {
 */
 void CalculateSlits::init() {
   declareProperty("Slit1Slit2", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(),
-                  "Distance between slit 1 and slit 2 in mm");
+                  "Distance between Slit 1 and Slit 2 in mm. Where Slit 1 and "
+                  "Slit 2 are the two slits before the sample holder.");
   declareProperty("Slit2SA", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(),
-                  "Offset in the beam direction in mm");
-  declareProperty("Resolution", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Resolution");
-  declareProperty("Footprint", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Footprint in mm");
-  declareProperty("Angle", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Angle in degrees");
-
-  declareProperty("Slit1", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Slit 1 width in mm",
+                  "Offset in the beam direction in mm. (Due to Slit 2 being "
+                  "translatable in the vertical axis)");
+  declareProperty("Resolution", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(),
+                  "The Resolution that you desire to obtain in the experiment");
+  declareProperty("Footprint", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "The Footprint you wish to achieve for the experiment, in mm");
+  declareProperty("Angle", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Incident angle in degrees.");
+
+  declareProperty("Slit1", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Calculated Slit 1 width in mm",
                   Direction::Output);
-  declareProperty("Slit2", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Slit 2 width in mm",
+  declareProperty("Slit2", Mantid::EMPTY_DBL(), "Calculated Slit 2 width in mm",
                   Direction::Output);
 }
 
diff --git a/docs/source/algorithms/CalculateSlits-v1.rst b/docs/source/algorithms/CalculateSlits-v1.rst
index d793cf542c960e2e18e73fb5e723479ea09d1832..c5c754b7f95eedfd425586ffe816e2c709215a2c 100644
--- a/docs/source/algorithms/CalculateSlits-v1.rst
+++ b/docs/source/algorithms/CalculateSlits-v1.rst
@@ -20,7 +20,15 @@ CalculateSlits uses nothing but the input properties to calculate the output, sp
 
    Slit1 = (2 \times Slit1Slit2 \times tan(\alpha \times Resolution)) - Slit2
 
-where :math:`\alpha` is the angle in radians.
+where :math:`\alpha` is the angle in radians (conversion between degrees and radians is implemented by the algorithm).
+
+Footprint
+---------
+
+The footprint of the experiment is not necessarily instrument specific and can be thought of as the area of the sample
+that is reach by the beam during the experiment. When providing the value of the footprint to the algorithm it should be
+based on the footprint that you would wish to use for the experiment as this information cannot be taken directly from
+the instrument definition and is experiment-dependant. 
 
 Usage
 -----