The images carry meaning as reflective prompts — not a fixed code to decrypt.
Colours
Colours are commonly read as moods or themes — warm versus cool, light versus shadow — though readers differ and no chart is definitive. Notice what a colour evokes for you in the context of your question rather than memorising fixed meanings.
Numbers
Numbers trace a rough progression — from beginnings (aces) toward completion (tens) — so a card's number gives you a sense of where in a process it sits. Repeated numbers across a spread are worth noticing too.
Figures, postures and objects
Where the eye is drawn, the body language of a figure, and recurring objects (a cup, a sword, a road, a wall) all give you something concrete to interpret. Describe what you see before you reach for a meaning.
Build your own vocabulary
These are interpretive associations, not a dictionary. Part of learning tarot is developing your own sense of what a symbol means to you — the reading is richer for it than any inherited code.