1. In a precision laser based method of marking a semiconductor wafer having articles which may include die, chip scale packages, circuit patterns and the like, the marking to occur in a wafer marking system and within a designated region relative to an article position, the method comprising: determining at least one location from which reference data is to be obtained using (a) information from which a location of an article is defined and (b) a vision model of at least a portion of at least one article; obtaining reference data to locate a feature on a first side of the wafer using at least one signal from a first sensor; positioning a marking field relative to the wafer so as to position a laser beam at a marking location on a second side of the wafer, the positioning being based on the feature location; and marking a predetermined pattern on the second side of the wafer using a laser marking output beam, wherein the step of determining comprises: measuring at least one feature in an image obtained from a first wafer portion; relating the measured feature to a wafer map; and storing the data for use when marking wafers substantially identical to the first wafer, and wherein the steps of measuring, relating, and storing are performed automatically.