Paste
A Unix command line utility which is used to join files horizontally (parallel merging) by outputting lines consisting of the sequentially corresponding lines of each file specified.
Cut
Cut removes sections of each line of files.
Print selected parts of lines from each FILE to standard output.
brett@ubuntu:~$ cat file gidlesd dddiii llfees jfkdasdioels fjoewaqffcjio brett@ubuntu:~$ cut -c 2-4 file idl ddi lfe fkd joe brett@ubuntu:~$