As predicted earlier this month, struggling photography pioneer Eastman Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while it attempts to raise cash by selling off some of its more than 1,000 patents.

In addition to falling under the Chapter 11 umbrella of protection from its creditors, the company has secured a $950 million line of credit from Citigroup to get it through the next year and a half, by which point Kodak hopes to have crawled out from its pitiable position.

“This is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak,” the company’s Chairman said.

Kodak, whose name was once synonymous with cameras and film, was never able to make the rapid transition from film to digital photography in recent years. In just the last nine years, the company went from employing more than 63,000 people to only around 17,000, while its once sky-high market value of around $31 billion in 1996 now sits around $150 million.

Photography pioneer Kodak files for bankruptcy [Chicago Tribune]

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