A method and imaging assembly (10) are disclosed adapted for reading soft indicia (14) on a mobile device (12). The imaging assembly (10) comprises a scanning arrangement (20) adapted for capturing images from the soft indicia (14). The scanning arrangement (20) has an optical axis with a symmetrically oriented field-of-view (24) about the optical axis that is directed at the soft indicia (14) during operation. The imaging assembly (10) further comprises an illumination source (34) positioned in a housing (18) to provide smart illumination (36) toward the soft indicia (14) to be imaged. The smart illumination (36) construct being that the illumination source (34) is position in close proximity to the optical axis without allowing reflected illumination to enter into the scanning arrangement (20) field-of-view (24) and the smart illumination construct further forming a narrow illumination field-of-view (38) that is projected at the soft indicia (14) during operation.