# PCoA

Creates a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) graph at the selected taxonomic level based on the distance matrix generated by the selected metric

![](https://2045057293-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M32ms-dWLPjFImgSINF%2F-M3A2qEUlr3fiXvyo8_f%2F-M3A394qBPCYwCtTUZnf%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=490fb8c0-4227-41c8-93e6-1f6d18f93d4b)



### Used For

* Visualizing the similarity between different samples

### Visualization Parameters

#### Taxonomic Level

The taxonomic level to aggregate the OTUs at. The OTUs will be grouped together (by summing the OTU values) at the selected taxonomic level before the analysis is applied.

#### Categorical Variable

Create comparative sample groups based on categorical variables uploaded in the metadata file.&#x20;

Optionally create a categorical variable from a quantitative variable by using the Quantile Range feature on the Projects home page.&#x20;

#### PCoA Type

Choose from one or multiple distance measures

#### Axis Range

Define the range of the 3D PCA plot. Points falling outside of this range will be removed from the graph.

### Interactive Elements

* Hover over each point to determine its sample ID and its principal component values
* Rotate, zoom, and pan

### Additional Features

* **Save Snapshot**: Save the visualization to the experiment notebook
* **Download**: Downloads the visualization as a PNG file
* **Share**: Creates a shareable link that allows you to share the visualization with others
