1. A system for capturing an image of an object, comprising: an optical imager positioned on one side of said object and configured to capture a digital image of the object along a first axis; an illumination source associated with said imager and aligned to direct incoherent illumination along a second axis that is not parallel to said first axis directly onto said one side of said object; a retroreflective surface positioned on the opposing side of and spaced apart from said object for reflecting light emitted from said illumination source onto at least a portion of the opposing side of said object and saturating the background of said object in said digital image; and a microcontroller interconnected to said imager that is programmed to generate a modified digital image by replacing the saturated background in said digital image with black pixel values and then interpreting said modified digital image to decode any information encoded therein.