1. A handheld scanner comprising: a scanner subassembly, the scanner subassembly including a vision sensor, a processor coupled to the vision sensor, and memory coupled to the processor; a user interface coupled to the scanner subassembly, the user interface including a visual display for viewing a live image of at least a portion of a mark to be scanned, the visual display including a region of interest viewable on the visual display, the region of interest to enable a user to position the handheld scanner for optimal X-Y position of the handheld scanner; and vision software executable by the processor, the vision software operable to digitally interpret a marker font file to decode a subsequent image of the mark, the marker font file describing the mark.