Generate lines from photo/image

I would like to generate the outlines/lines of an image.- I know you can use a laplacian filter to generate the outline image but I need to tak开发者_如何学Goe it one step further. I want to actually receive an array of lines (that can consist of multiple line segments) descibing the image. Are there existing algorithms to do that? Do you have any ideas to get there from an outline image?

Thanks

As long as the lines are straight (or can be parametrized in an adequate way), you might use hough transform.