head -c 100 file  # returns the first 100 bytes in the file
tail -c 100 file  # returns the last 100 bytes in the file
dd count=5 bs=1 if=filename

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/218912/linux-command-like-cat-to-read-a-specified-quantity-of-characters

Is there a command like cat in linux which can return a specified quantity of characters from a file?

Linux command (like cat) to read a specified quantity of characters

Bash

Bash