Visual imagery is as simple as it sounds: It describes something you can see. Visual imagery will describe a setting's colors, size, shape, physical features and anything else that you detect with your eyes. Visual imagery creates the mental picture you see as you read a story.
Auditory imagery, also known as aural imagery, describes something you can hear. It can be used on a large scale, such as describing the sounds of an earthquake, or it can be more subtle, such as the sound of footsteps on a wooden floor.
Tactile imagery appeals to your sense of touch. It describes parts of the story you can feel on your skin, for example a kitten's fur between your fingers or a cold wind on your face. Good tactile imagery should make you feel something as though it were really there.
Olfactory imagery describes something you can smell. Writers can use lots of creative license with olfactory imagery by assigning smells to unusual things. For example, anyone can imagine the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, but a writer can use olfactory imagery to describe the smell of a forest, a meadow or a summer night.
Gustatory imagery is something you can taste. Like olfactory imagery, gustatory imagery has endless possibilities for describing simple things in a creative way. Gustatory imagery can describe anything from the taste of a slice of pizza to the taste in your mouth before you have to make a big speech.