#+title: ODT styles test #+ODT_STYLES_FILE: ("odt-test-styles.odt" ("styles.xml" "Pictures/10000201000000A2000000B0A7D655E3F0A97ECF.png")) Place this Org file in the same directory as the accompanying file odt-test-styles.odt and export it to ODT. Expected result: the exported document has a picture of the Org unicorn in the header. What I see: OpenDocument export failed: Invalid specification of styles.xml file: "(\"odt-test-styles.odt\" (\"styles.xml\" \"Pictures/10000201000000A2000000B0A7D655E3F0A97ECF.png\"))" Use M-x make-directory RET RET to create the directory and its parents The ODT_STYLES_FILE option is set correctly according to [[info:org#Applying%20custom%20styles][info:org#Applying custom styles]] (info "org#Applying custom styles"). It references another ODT document providing the custom styles to apply to this document, including an image to be used in the header. However, it seems the value of ODT_STYLES_FILE is not being parsed correctly as a list.