1. A method of imaging a coding pattern disposed on a surface of a substrate, said method comprising the steps of: (a) operatively positioning an optical reader relative to said surface and capturing an image of a portion of said coding pattern, said coding pattern comprising: a plurality of target elements defining a target grid, said target grid comprising a plurality of cells, wherein neighboring cells share target elements; a plurality of data elements contained in each cell; and a plurality of tags, each tag being defined by a plurality of contiguous cells, each tag comprising respective tag data encoded by a respective set of said data elements, wherein each cell comprises one or more translation symbols encoded by a respective set of said data elements, said one or more translation symbols identifying a translation of said cell relative to a tag containing said cell; (b) sampling and decoding one or more translation symbols contained in said imaged portion; (c) determining a translation of one or more cells relative to a tag containing said one or more cells; and (d) using said determined translation to sample and decode said tag data.