1. A method for operating a scanning system that includes a scanning device and a display, the scanning device adapted for continuous acquisition of surface data from a subject, the scanning device having one or more scanning parameters, and the display adapted for displaying a digital surface reconstruction containing a plurality of three-dimensional points recovered from the surface data, the method comprising: rendering the digital surface reconstruction in the display; and providing a visual cue within the display that relates to the one or more scanning parameters; wherein the one or more scanning parameters includes a range of distances for data capture, providing a visual cue further including color coding a plurality of rendered points of the digital surface reconstruction according to a current distance of each one of the plurality of rendered points relative to the range of distances for data capture; wherein color coding includes rendering points more distant than the range of distances in a first color; wherein color coding includes rendering points nearer than the range of distances in a second color; wherein color coding includes rendering points within the range of distances in a third color.