A method and apparatus for projecting illumination patterns from barcode readers. The apparatus includes a housing, an invisible illumination light source, and a visible illumination light source. The housing comprises a first window located in a generally horizontal plane and a second window located in a generally upright plane that intersects the generally horizontal plane. The invisible illumination light source is operative to project an invisible illumination pattern that is at least partially incident upon the first window or the second window after the invisible illumination pattern is projected out of the housing. The visible illumination light source operative to project a visible illumination pattern out of the housing, and the visible illumination pattern has a visible center ray propagating in a direction different from the invisible center ray of the invisible illumination pattern.