Tukukkk

I was trying to create an image in TIKZ. My code is as below:

documentclass[10pt]{article}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{tikz}

usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric, shadows, fit, arrows, positioning}

begin{document}

begin{center}

tikzset{

neuron/.style={shape=circle,draw,inner sep= 0pt,minimum size = 2.5 em, node 

distance = 10ex and 1 em

},

every loop/.style={min distance=10mm,looseness=5},

dot/.style={shape=circle,minimum size=1mm, inner sep=0pt, fill=black, node 

distance= 1ex and 2 em

},

group/.style={rectangle,draw, inner sep=1pt,rounded corners,minimum height= 

3.5em,minimum width=15.5 em, node distance= 1ex and 1em},

conn/.style={draw,-latex'}

}



begin{tikzpicture}

node[neuron](x1){$x_1$};

node[neuron,right=of x1](x2){$x_2$};

node[dot,right=of x2](dot_1){};

node[dot,right=of dot_1](dot_2){};

node[neuron,right=of dot_2](xN){$x_N$};

node[group,fit={(x1)(x2)(dot_1)(dot_2)(xN)}](grp1){};

end{tikzpicture}

end{center}

end{document}

and the result is this

How can I fill the box with any color only excluding the circles and the dots?
Also is there any way to export tikz image(I want to use tikz produced image in a word document)?

One solution is to fill the circle nodes white and draw the container on the background layer.

documentclass[10pt]{article}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{tikz}

usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric, shadows, fit, arrows, positioning,backgrounds}

begin{document}

begin{center}

tikzset{

neuron/.style={shape=circle,draw,inner sep= 0pt,minimum size = 2.5 em, node 

distance = 10ex and 1 em,fill=white},

every loop/.style={min distance=10mm,looseness=5},

dot/.style={shape=circle,minimum size=1mm, inner sep=0pt, fill=black, node 

distance= 1ex and 2 em

},

group/.style={rectangle,draw, inner sep=1pt,rounded corners,minimum height= 

3.5em,minimum width=15.5 em, node distance= 1ex and 1em},

conn/.style={draw,-latex'}

}



begin{tikzpicture}

node[neuron](x1){$x_1$};

node[neuron,right=of x1](x2){$x_2$};

node[dot,right=of x2](dot_1){};

node[dot,right=of dot_1](dot_2){};

node[neuron,right=of dot_2](xN){$x_N$};

begin{scope}[on background layer]

node[group,fit={(x1)(x2)(dot_1)(dot_2)(xN)},fill=blue!20](grp1){};

end{scope}

end{tikzpicture}

end{center}

end{document}

Another possibility is to use even odd rule, which is in this case a bit more cumbersome but has the advantage that, if you have a background picture, it won't get overdrawn by fill=white.

documentclass[10pt]{article}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{tikz}

usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric, shadows, fit, arrows, positioning}

makeatletter % https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/38995/121799

tikzset{

  use path/.code={pgfsyssoftpath@setcurrentpath{#1}}

}

makeatother



begin{document}

begin{center}

tikzset{

neuron/.style={shape=circle,draw,inner sep= 0pt,minimum size = 2.5 em, node 

distance = 10ex and 1 em,fill=white},

every loop/.style={min distance=10mm,looseness=5},

dot/.style={shape=circle,minimum size=1mm, inner sep=0pt, fill=black, node 

distance= 1ex and 2 em

},

group/.style={rectangle,draw, inner sep=1pt,rounded corners,minimum height= 

3.5em,minimum width=15.5 em, node distance= 1ex and 1em},

conn/.style={draw,-latex'}

}



begin{tikzpicture}

node[neuron](x1){$x_1$};

node[neuron,right=of x1](x2){$x_2$};

node[dot,right=of x2](dot_1){};

node[dot,right=of dot_1](dot_2){};

node[neuron,right=of dot_2](xN){$x_N$};

node[group,fit={(x1)(x2)(dot_1)(dot_2)(xN)},save path=pathF](grp1){};

fill[blue!20,even odd rule] [use path=pathF] 

(x1.center) circle (1.25em+pgflinewidth/2)

(x2.center) circle (1.25em+pgflinewidth/2) (xN.center) circle (1.25em+pgflinewidth/2)

(dot_1.center) circle(0.5mm) (dot_2.center) circle(0.5mm);

end{tikzpicture}

end{center}

end{document}

Yet another possibility is to use reverseclip.

documentclass[10pt]{article}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{tikz}

usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric, shadows, fit, arrows, positioning}

makeatletter % https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/38995/121799

tikzset{

  use path/.code={pgfsyssoftpath@setcurrentpath{#1}}

}

makeatother

% https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/12033/121799

tikzset{reverseclip/.style={insert path={(current bounding box.north

        east) rectangle (current bounding box.south west)}}}



begin{document}

begin{center}

tikzset{

neuron/.style={shape=circle,draw,inner sep= 0pt,minimum size = 2.5 em, node 

distance = 10ex and 1 em,fill=white},

every loop/.style={min distance=10mm,looseness=5},

dot/.style={shape=circle,minimum size=1mm, inner sep=0pt, fill=black, node 

distance= 1ex and 2 em

},

group/.style={rectangle,draw, inner sep=1pt,rounded corners,minimum height= 

3.5em,minimum width=15.5 em, node distance= 1ex and 1em},

conn/.style={draw,-latex'}

}



begin{tikzpicture}

node[neuron,save path=pathA](x1){$x_1$};

node[neuron,right=of x1,save path=pathB](x2){$x_2$};

node[dot,right=of x2,save path=pathC](dot_1){};

node[dot,right=of dot_1,save path=pathD](dot_2){};

node[neuron,right=of dot_2,save path=pathE](xN){$x_N$};

node[group,fit={(x1)(x2)(dot_1)(dot_2)(xN)},save path=pathF](grp1){};

begin{scope}

clip [use path=pathA,reverseclip];

clip [use path=pathB,reverseclip];

clip [use path=pathC,reverseclip];

clip [use path=pathD,reverseclip];

clip [use path=pathE,reverseclip];

fill[blue!20] [use path=pathF];

end{scope}

end{tikzpicture}

end{center}

end{document}

All options lead to the same output.