display text in a field less right 8 characters

Skuid uses the JQuery date control  (see http://api.jqueryui.com/datepicker/)  and you can create a custom date formatting.  Here is an example inline snippet: 

var $ = skuid.$; var field = arguments[0]; var value = arguments[1]; var jsdate = new Date(); //use skuid util to change SF date to JS date jsdate = skuid.time.parseSFDate(value); //uses jQuery UI Datepicker.formatDate tools skuid.ui.fieldRenderers.TEXT[field.mode](field, $.datepicker.formatDate( "mm/dd/yy", jsdate));

The key text is in the last line.   $.datepicker.formatDate(  XXX , jsdate  )      Use the Datepicker documentation linked above to find other options for formatting dates. 

You can do similar things with strings,  manipulating them so only certain sections of the string show.